


Tell Me A Story

by FitchSwitch



Series: Tell Me A Story universe [1]
Category: Skins (UK)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, a feel better fic, legit just the most fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 15:49:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 54,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8333398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FitchSwitch/pseuds/FitchSwitch
Summary: Literally nothing in this story but pure fluff. Collection of one-shots from their lives.





	1. Tell Me A Story

**Author's Note:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

On the day that Katie went to adopt her brand new three-month-old daughter, Naomi went with her. It was less of a choice and more of a forced accompaniment brought about mainly by the fact that she had been the only person around when Katie had gotten the news...

 

* * *

 

It was half past two in the afternoon and it was such a slow news day that Naomi was already home from work. For the first time in months she had the luxury of not having to sift through endless amount of columns written in by people who though they deserved to be in a newspaper but who, it came about, knew absolutely nothing about anything that was going on in the world. And because Naomi liked to torture herself the first thing she did when she got home was set herself up cross-legged at the kitchen table with a nice cup of tea and sat down to read a paper that wasn't hers.

She was halfway through the first page when Katie slammed open the front door without bothering to knock and went right up the stairs calling Emily's name. Naomi debated between sitting and listening to Katie search in vain or calling out and decided the latter would make her go away faster.

"Kitchen!"

Katie clomped back down the stairs and darted into the kitchen. She looked disappointed and scowled when all she saw was Naomi and a newspaper.

Naomi scowled right back at her. "It's called a doorbell, Katie. Use it."

"It's called a wardrobe, Naomi. Get one," Katie shot back. "And learn to lock your door."

"You'd just use your key," Naomi grumbled as she sipped her tea. She replaced it on the table and sighed. "And anyway you're getting ready to be a mother shouldn't you be entering people's houses with more decorum?"

Whatever comeback Katie had to that was lost when the word 'mother' registered behind her eyes and her earlier excitement came back with a vengeance. "Where's my sister?" the older twin demanded.

Naomi raised an eyebrow. "Work," she said dryly. "Where most people are around this time of day. Except, evidently, bored journalists and excitable interior designers."

Katie looked dangerously close to actually bursting into tears. "But I need her," she whined. "She has to come with me! I can't do this without her."

"Do what without her?" Naomi asked innocently. Oh, so innocently. She wasn't prepared for what came next.

"I got the call," Katie said as she bounced - yes, bounced, like a dark-haired imitation of Pandora - over to table and actually hugged Naomi. "She's ready, the papers are ready. Everything's all set. I just need to sign. I'm ready."

That was quite possibly the understatement of the century. Katie had been ready for more than a month before the paperwork had gone through. Her flat was child-proofed, the nursery was all set up, and this child had enough clothes to fit ten babies (Naomi was just grateful that they didn't make leopard print baby clothes, although it wasn't for lack of trying on Katie's part).

"Okay then," Naomi said. She made a little shooing motion with her hands. "Go get 'em, tiger. Show 'em what you got. Step up to the plate. Various other encouraging cliches of your choice."

"I can't do it alone," Katie whispered. "Please, Naomi? I need someone."

Maybe if she didn't look so scared, or so anxious, or so terribly terribly hopeful then Naomi would have turned her down. Maybe if Katie hadn't used a kicked puppy look with eyes that reminded her disconcertingly of Emily. Maybe if this wasn't the first time Katie had every truly asked her kindly for something.

"What about your Mum?" Naomi asked desperately. It was her last ditch attempt to get out.

Katie perked up, sensing victory. "She and Dad are still in Scotland visiting family with James. Besides I wouldn't want her there anyway, you know how she feels about me adopting as a single mother. She thinks the baby should have a father as well."

Naomi nodded, but she knew there was something more. Cook was around for a significant amount of the preparations: painting the nursery, building the crib and rocking chair, attaching locks and bumpers around the flat, and always showing up with a new toy. And the way he looked at Katie when the former WAG wasn't looking. And the way Katie looked back. They hadn't admitted anything, maybe not even to themselves, but it was painfully obvious the baby was closer to having a father than Jenna Fitch knew.

Finally she sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

Katie squealed. "Nothing! Just come with me and maybe hold my hand and try not to act too much like a lezza."

A sudden memory flashed through her mind. A cat flap and holding a warm hand on a cold night. It made her smile. "Come with, hold hand, be less gay," Naomi checked off. "Got it. Let's go, then."

But Katie didn't budge. "Not like that," she said as she looked the blonde up and down.

Naomi looked down at what she was wearing: an old pair of grey joggers and a shirt she was 99% sure was actually Emily's. She sighed again. "Fine. I'll change."

 

* * *

  
  
...and so now here she was, sitting in a chair watching little kids play in a room while Katie was in the office crossing the t's and dotting the i's as it were. She was also getting strange looks from most of the little kids. Not because she was the only adult in the room (there were several others who worked here wandering around keeping an eye on things and even more over behind the desk in the corner) but because she was new.

Naomi fiddled with her phone again. She'd already called Emily's school and left a message with the secretary there but classes didn't let out until three, the woman had said, and since it was only just three now it was likely Em wouldn't be there for another twenty minutes at the minimum. She had already sat through the hand-holding part and the part where Katie had talked her ear off anxiously.

There was a flash of white-gold and suddenly a little person was sitting next to her. She couldn't have been more than five years old and she contemplated Naomi with such a serious face for such a little girl.

"Hi."

Naomi blinked. "Hi," she said back.

"Why are you doing that?" the little girl asked, pointing to Naomi's hand.

"Doing what?"

"That thing!" The little girl made a twisting motion with her right hand over her left.

Naomi looked down and sure enough she had been twisting her ring around on her finger. It was a common habit she had developed and it made Emily smile every time she caught her doing it. "Nervous, I guess," she said.

"About what?"

"My friend is adopting a baby today and I suppose I'm nervous for her," she admitted truthfully.

The little girl nodded solemnly. "The pretty woman with dark hair? She's adopting Abby."

Naomi nodded, abruptly recalling that the baby's new name would be Abigail Emily Fitch. "Yes, that's right."

The girl nodded back. Naomi thought they must look like a right pair of bobbleheads. The two of them sat in silence for about half a minute before the girl started to swing her legs back and forth. When she looked at Naomi again it was with big brown eyes full of hope.

"Are you married?" she asked.

Naomi choked a little on the breath she just drew in. "Um, yes. What do you know about people being married?"

"When two people love each other very much they go to a church and they get married and then they wear rings like yours and they live happily ever after for the rest of their lives," the little girl said matter-of-factly.

"Well, um, yes, that's right," Naomi said. She was a little awestruck, to be honest, both at the wealth of information this little girl had and at the fact that she had said that whole sentence without taking a breath. She started to twist her silver wedding band again.

"When did you get married?"

Naomi felt like she should be mad, or annoyed, or tired of questions, or all of the above. Instead she found the little girl's curiosity endearing. "Two years ago next month."

"Is he handsome?"

She paused, unsure of how to explain the next part. She opted out instead. "What's your name?"

The little girl scrunched up her face into a grimace. "Rhiannon."

Only iron clad control and the knowledge of how much she hated it when people laughed when she was introduced stopped the giggle from coming out of Naomi's mouth and even then it was a close call. She made a face right back. "And I thought Naomi Campbell was a hard name to live with."

Rhiannon shrugged. "It's some goddess. Dunno which one. People call me Mia cause my middle name is Amelia."

"I think it's a pretty name," Naomi assured her. "Well, Mia, yes I am married. But the person I'm going to be with for the rest of my life is a woman." She wasn't sure why she was so nervous for this child's reaction.

Mia just nodded again as if this made all the sense in the world. "Is she pretty?" she re-worded her question from earlier.

Naomi smiled, thinking of red hair and brown eyes and the world's sweetest smile. "She's the most beautiful person I've ever met. She's my very best friend in the entire world."

"What's her name?"

"Emily," Naomi said, and her smile grew bigger. It amazed her that even years later just the sound of Emily's name still made her heart beat just that much faster.

"I like that name. Do you love her?"

Naomi swallowed around in her throat. "Very much," she said. "I've loved her for a very long time."

Neither the adult nor the child noticed that Katie had stepped out of the office with a sleeping baby in her arms and now stood with some of the people that worked there who were now very very curious. It was safe to say that this little audience was just as engrossed in the conversation unfolding in front of them as the participants were. Not even Katie had ever heard the whole story.

"How long?" Mia asked.

Naomi debated telling the whole truth and decided the little girl wouldn't be asking if she didn't want to know. "Since I was twelve years old."

Mia's eyes got big. "Wow. You got married when you were twelve?"

"No!" Naomi laughed, something she very rarely did with anyone but Em. "I fell in love the first time I saw her. And the first time I saw her I was twelve."

"What was she doing?"

"Raising her hand," Naomi said. Mia snickered and Naomi laughed with her. "Hey! It's true. We were in the same primary. They called her sister's name and then hers, and I was curious so I looked over and that was it."

She still remembered that day even at twenty-five years old. Remembered how Emily had raised her hand shyly (just like she would do again years later in college) and put it back down when the room broke into whispers over the novelty of twins. Remembered catching her first glimpse of those warm brown eyes and smiling at Emily hoping that maybe, just maybe it would relieve the poor little redhead's nervousness. Remembered the pounding of her heart when Emily smiled back.

"And then what happened?" Mia asked. She had turned fully in her chair and crossed her legs to give Naomi her full and undivided attention. "She was your girlfriend?"

Naomi mimicked her position. "No, not for a while."

"Why not?"

She frowned. "Why not what?"

"You loved her. Why wasn't she your girlfriend?"

"Well I didn't know if she felt the same way, did I?" Naomi pointed out. "And then when I found out she did I wasn't sure what to do. So I ran. For a really long time."

"Why?"

Naomi bit her lip and tried to think of a good way to phrase her mixed up, messed up bundle of feelings back then to a five year old now. "Do you ever watch scary stuff on the telly?" she asked finally.

Mia looked a little guilty but nodded.

"When something scary comes on you cover your face, don't you?" Naomi asked. "Because if you can't see it then maybe it can't hurt you."

Mia was frowning. "Emily scared you?"

Naomi nodded. "Emily terrified me. Sometimes when someone loves you that much its scary. So I ran because I figured maybe if I did that then she wouldn't scare me so much."

"Did she run after you?"

"Yes," Naomi smiled fondly, thinking of mumbled confessions in caves under Bristol and MDMA brownies and a thousand other little moments too numerous to fully recall.

"Why?"

"To this day I have no idea. She says its because she loves me. I think its because she's very, very stubborn."

Mia giggled. "And then you were girlfriends?"

"No," Naomi said sadly.

Over by the office the little audience had grown to listen to what Katie thought might just be the most heart-tugging little story she'd ever heard. Somewhere around the time that Naomi was recalling the first time she saw Emily the object of the conversation had shown up. Katie watched her sister, and Emily looked at Naomi as if watching the blonde pour her heart out to that little girl was the most important thing to ever happen in the entire universe.

"Why not?" Mia asked.

"Because I did some very stupid things," Naomi admitted. "And I was still scared."

"Did Emily get tired?"

The lump was back in Naomi's throat and now it was accompanied by a tightness in her chest. "Yes," she said. "Emily got very tired of running after me."

"So you stopped, right?" Mia leaned forward and she was frowning as if she didn't already know the end of this story, as if she hadn't seen the rings. "You stopped and waited for her to catch up?"

Naomi shook her head and Mia looked heartbroken and disappointed. So did the little audience behind them, but neither of them knew that.

"I did something better," Naomi smiled and waited for Mia to smile back before she elaborated. "I stopped running. I stood still for a really long time and thought about what kind of life I would have if I didn't have Emily. And then I turned around and started running to her instead of away from her. It was the smartest thing I've ever done."

Mia's grin lit up her whole face. She reached out and touched the ring on Naomi's finger. "And then you lived happily ever after?"

"Yup."

Mia's whole demeanor changed suddenly. She leaned back and her eyes were serious. "And now your friend is adopting Abby, because Abby is a baby and babies are cute and they don't know any better. Everyone does that."

Naomi frowned, concerned at the sudden change. "Does what?"

"Adopt babies," Mia shrugged. "They're cuter and cuddlier. No one wants a big kid running around."

"Hey! I like big kids," Naomi said. "Less house-training."

Mia giggled again but her eyes were too far away for a child. "Why?"

"Why what?" Naomi asked.

"Why do you love Emily?"

The question was like a punch to the gut. It knocked out her breath and stopped her thoughts for a minute. It wasn't because she couldn't answer it, it was because she had so many answers she needed to sort them out.

"She thinks I can be better than I am," Naomi said finally. "Emily sees every bit of me and loves it all. She sees things in me that I don't see in myself. And she is brave and strong and kind. She's the best person I've ever met. Sometimes," she confided, "I think she might actually be an angel."

Mia nodded as if that made the most perfect sense ever.

Emily couldn't stand it anymore. She walked over and tucked a stray piece of blonde hair behind Naomi's ear. "Also I'm very stubborn," she said. "I didn't give her much of a choice."

Naomi leaned into the touch. "True. You're very annoying."

"You seem to inspire it in me."

Mia was watching Emily with big, awestruck eyes. She looked at Naomi. "She is pretty," she said.

Just at that moment the doors at the other end of the room opened and one of the other workers came up to gather up the kids for dinner. He herded them as best he could and when he caught sight of Mia sitting and talking with them still he turned and made his way over. Naomi's heart hurt.

She looked up and locked eyes with Emily, and in a quick second a rapid-fire silent exchange took place. Not for the first time Naomi was grateful that they were the kind of couple who could hold entire conversations with their eyes.

_Are you sure?_ **You're the one who brought it up last week.** _And you snapped at me._ **I'm not snapping now.** _That much is obvious._ **It could work.** _Of course it can._ **Same page?** _Same page._

Naomi grabbed Mia's hand and stood up. "Come with us for a minute?" she asked.

The little girl nodded trustingly and followed them over to Katie, who had a look of dawning realization on her face.

Emily just shared a smile with Naomi and they both looked at the notary who had signed off on Katie's papers.

"So," the redhead began. "This adopting thing. How does that work?"


	2. Give Me An Excuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia gets in a fight. Naomi is a pushover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

"She's home!" 

Naomi put her bags down quickly and braced herself for the impact of a five-year-old bundle of energy. Mia came bolting out of the living room, almost lost her balance when her sock-clad feet slid on the wood floor, and threw herself into Naomi's arms.

"Hi!" Naomi stood up with the child still in her arms and Mia wrapped her little arms around Naomi's neck. "How was your day?"

" _Bor_ -ing," Mia pouted. "All we did was read _Run, Spot, Run_. I know that one already!"

Naomi carried her into the kitchen where she could hear Emily's voice and the clatter of pans. "You'll just have to live with it for a bit, sweetheart," she told her foster-daughter as they entered the kitchen. Emily waved hello with the hand that wasn't holding a phone to her ear. "Not everyone is as smart as you are. Anything else happen today?"

"No."

Over in the corner Emily took the phone away from her ear and mouthed ' _Yes_ ' behind Mia's back. Naomi raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing else happened today, huh?" she asked. Mia squirmed guiltily and Naomi put her down on the kitchen counter so they were facing each other eye to eye. It was then that she noticed the small bruise forming around Mia's eye. She touched it with one finger. "What happened here?"

Mia wouldn't meet her eyes and kicked her feet just like she did when Naomi first met her. Naomi had come to realize it was a little tick that Mia did when she was nervous or upset about something.

"Hey," she lifted Mia's face to look her in the eye. "I'm serious, Amelia. Tell me." Poor Mia hated her name so much that when they were getting all the paperwork done she had begged to be rid of her first name and the adults had agreed.

The little girl looked at the ground again and mumbled something. Naomi looked over at Emily and mouthed ' _Help me'_ ' but her wife just made an encouraging little hand motion and started rummaging around in the fridge, talking on the phone the whole time.

"What was that?" Naomi prompted. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your mother being a cow." An apple hit Naomi square in the back. " _Ow_."

Mia giggled but stopped when Naomi gave her a look that said she clearly wasn't off the hook for anything. The five-year-old heaved a sigh that seemed much to big for her thin shoulders. "I got into a fight at school."

"You did what?" Naomi frowned at her. "Why did you get into a fight, Mia?"

"I got into a fight with a girl cause she said some mean stuff so I hit her." Mia sucked in her bottom lip to stop it from trembling and waited for the reaction.

Naomi wasn't about to yell at her just yet. "What kind of stuff?" she asked.

Mia shrugged. "Just stuff."

"Okay," Naomi said. "What happened after you got into the fight?"

"Got sent to the office."

Naomi looked to Emily for confirmation and the redhead nodded.

"Oh. Okay, then." Naomi paused for a second before she grinned. "Did you win? _OW_." She rubbed the back of her head where Emily had thrown a carrot at her. "Spousal abuse!"

Mia giggled but immediately looked guilty a second later.

Naomi brushed a bit of blonde hair out of Mia's eyes. "So are you going to tell me what she said?"

The little girl shook her head but she looked seconds away from bursting into tears. Even though they had talked about this and even though they had assured her over and over that she was staying with them forever, Naomi was pretty sure Mia was still sometimes afraid that if she misbehaved they would send her back.

"Hey," Naomi scooped her up off the counter and carried her over to the table so Mia could sit in her lap. "Emily already told you fighting is wrong, right?" she asked. Mia nodded into her neck and Naomi smoothed back her hair. "So you don't need me to tell you that. I'm not mad. Just tell me what happened, little bird."

"Beth Russelberg was telling everyone that I wasn't reading cause I was stupid but I wasn't reading cause I already read the book!"

"So you hit her?"

"No, I told her my mom reads it to me every night," Mia explained into her shoulder. The story was vaguely muffled but Naomi could make it out. "And she asked if I meant Emily and I said no I meant you and then she told me I was weird because people aren't supposed to have two moms and I called her a liar and then she hit me..."

"Breathe between sentences, sweetie."

Mia obediently took a deep breath. "And when I told Ms. Williams she just sent us both to the office and then we both had to go home only we didn't want to bug you at work so I waited until Emily could take me."

Emily had hung up the phone halfway through this little tirade and was leaning against the counter and watching them. She smiled encouragingly when Naomi looked up at her.

"Mia, we told you when we asked if you wanted us to adopt you that people might say that," Naomi said gently.

"I know," Mia giggled suddenly. "It doesn't bug me anymore. Auntie Katie showed me what to do."

" _What_?" Emily yelped. Naomi and Mia both jumped and looked at her. "My sister told you to punch people who said things like that?"

Mia nodded, confused.

Emily sighed. "I'm not mad at you, love. Auntie Katie never should have told you that. Speaking of, they're going to be here soon so why don't you run upstairs and change out of your school clothes?"

Mia smiled, really truly smiled for the first time that day. She squirmed out of Naomi's lap and jumped up the stairs.

"I," Emily said slowly and dangerously when they were sure Mia was all the way upstairs, "Am going to murder my sister. Slowly."

Naomi chuckled and ignored her when Emily glared. She walked over and hooked her fingers into the loops of Emily jeans and pulled the redhead into her. "Please don't. Then you'll get arrested and thrown in jail, and I can't have that." She leaned down and kissed Emily for the first time all day. Ten years since their first kiss and the sensation of Emily's lips on her still sent fire racing through her body.

Emily smiled against Naomi's lips. "Conjugal visits," she said between kisses.

"Not good enough," Naomi whined. She slipped her hands onto Emily's hips and traced small circles against the skin of her stomach with her thumb. Emily groaned.

"We have a kid now," the redhead sighed. It was a happy little sigh, though, as if she just couldn't get enough of saying that sentence. She pulled away and turned around to finish washing the vegetables for dinner.

Naomi wrapped her arms around Emily from and placed her head on Emily's shoulder. She started to place soft kisses along the redhead's neck.

Emily giggled and squirmed. "Stop. That tickles and my sister will be here any minute."

Just then the doorbell rang. Naomi cursed. "Speak of the devil," she muttered and winced when Emily elbowed her in the stomach. " _Ow_. You can threaten her murder but I can't call her the devil? Double standard!"

"Go!" Emily shooed her. "Make yourself useful. Answer the door."

Naomi went to go do as she was told. "Welcome to the house of fun!" she greeted when she opened the door.

Katie snorted and shoved her way through into the hall. Naomi probably would have shoved back if Katie didn't have her arms full of baby.

"Hello Abby," she said to the seven-month-old, wagging her fingers in front of the baby's face. "Are you crawling yet? Where's your Daddy, huh?"

Abby cooed and reached up to try and grab at Naomi's dancing fingers. All the irritation in Katie's face melted away when she looked at the baby.

"He went to go pick up Eff and JJ. Panda and Thomas will be here soon. He's probably slacking off, being a shit...taki-mushroom-head," Katie trailed off and smiled up the stairs. "Hello, little love. How was your day at school?"

Mia frowned at her aunt. "I did what you told me to and I got in trouble!"

"You did what I...oh." Katie looked at Naomi sheepishly. "In my defense it always worked for me."

Emily walked into the hall in time to hear this last bit. "I cannot _believe_ you told my five year old daughter to punch people in the face," she snapped.

Naomi snickered. "Why can't you believe that? **Ow**. Seriously, the both of you are teaching violence to these children." She rubbed the part of her arm that Katie had punched.

"You shouldn't have told me to that if I was gonna get in trouble!" Mia scolded.

Katie looked guilty. Emily looked up at the stairs at her daughter and was abruptly torn between laughing and 'aww-ing' mightily. Mia wasn't theirs biologically but in the last few months she seemed to be adopting more and more of their mannerisms. At this moment, for example, with her little arms crossed and her little face scowling she looked exactly like Naomi.

Katie noticed it too. "My god, you two are corrupting her. She's giving me the Campbell glare!"

Naomi laughed and ran up the stairs. She scooped Mia up into her arms and they exchanged high-fives. "Good job, little bird. Just like I taught you."

Emily and Katie rolled their eyes in exactly the same way, but neither had time to retort before the door opened again.

"We're here, we're ready to eat!" Cook announced. He strolled right inside and lifted Abby into his arms. "Hello beautiful, hello gorgeous," he added when he leaned forward to kiss Katie.

Everyone else filed in behind him and Naomi and Mia led them into the living room. Emily watched her little family for a second with a loving smile, watched Naomi laughing with Mia on her lap, and then grabbed her sister and they went to go check on dinner.

Life was good.


	3. Sing Me A Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote a song-fic chapter I am so sorry guys I was 20.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

Naomi was halfway through a bottle of eggnog and singing Christmas carols. The most surprising thing about Naomi was that she actually had a good voice, but only used it under duress or while intoxicated. Although lately she had taken to giving in every time Mia asked for a lullaby. 

Emily watched as her wife walked around the tree and inspected it. The blond crossed her arms and grinned triumphantly. "Cook bet me a tenner he could decorate better than me," she said. "We'll see who wins now."

Emily chuckled. "You and Cook and your bets," she said with a great deal of affection. Naomi and Cook could and did make absolutely anything into a bet, but Emily couldn't ever get mad at them for it. After all, it had been one of their bets had led to the absolute best night of her entire life...

* * *

 

"Fuckssake Em hurry up, will you? We're already late! Christ, why do you always lag behind?"

Emily managed, through sheer force of will, not to point out to her sister that maybe they would have left for the bar on time with everyone else in their group if Katie hadn't tried on three different outfits. She had been ready for a whole hour before Katie had announced she was ready to go.

Everyone was in London for the weekend to celebrate. JJ was still working on his Masters but everyone else was celebrating graduations: Thomas and Panda graduating from Harvard, Cook graduating from his last bit of community service, Effy graduating to living on her own and going back to school, Katie graduating (by some miracle of the gods) from Inchbald, Naomi graduating with honors from Goldsmith, and Emily herself was two weeks away from getting her degree from Westminster.

Effy was smoking outside when Katie and Emily finally moseyed up an hour later than originally planned. She smiled at them; a fragile smile but genuine nonetheless.

"Nice of you two to finally join us," she said quietly. She stubbed out her cigarette and tossed the butt into the street.

"Yeah, well maybe if Ems hadn't taken forever," Katie said.

Emily caught Effy's eye and demonstrated her own version of the (patent pending) Naomi Eyeroll. Effy smirked.

"Come on, then. Cook and Naomi were scheming something when I left so they're probably halfway to getting kicked out by now." Effy turned and opened the door, and they were met with a loud blast of noise.

Their friends had grabbed a large table in the corner. It was already mostly covered with bottles and bits of trash, a sort of visual representation of how much time had passed. Naomi was up near the front of the bar where the karaoke machine was talking quietly with the operator. Cook was laughing so hard he looked about ten second away from passing out due to lack of oxygen.

Emily groaned. "What did you do to my girlfriend?" she demanded when they reached the table.

"Don't worry about it, Emilio man, just a little bet between friends," he assured her when he caught his breath.

"The bar owner called for karaoke!" Panda explained. She was half in Thomas's lap already and didn't look like she was planning on moving any time soon. Her engagement ring caught the light when she reached for another beer. "Some old guy sang and then some girl who was really really smashed and then Cook bet Naomi she couldn't do better than them so now she's gonna go win!"

Emily smiled. It was good to know that no matter how much some things changed, some things also stayed the same.

Effy was smiling too. "Naomi's a little drunk," she said. "She looked awfully lost waiting for you two to show up."

"Not my fault she can't go without seeing my sister for ten minutes. Ow!" Katie glared at Emily and rubbed her ankle where the younger twin had kicked her. "Bitch!"

"I think it's sweet," Effy said sincerely when Katie wandered off to grab a drink. "But I always have. Your lights have always complimented each other. Your lights," she repeated when Emily looked confused. "Red and brown, gold and blue." Effy shrugged, as if just realizing she was saying something that was a little off.

Emily saw Effy's self-doubt and leaned up to kiss her on the cheek. "Thanks, Eff. I think so too."

The moment was broken when the microphone squealed as the owner turned the volume up and Emily groaned again. JJ patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Statistically speaking, given the ratio of confidence to alcohol intake, Naomi should do fairly well. The chance is also high that she will regret it in the morning but," he didn't finish, just shrugged.

The crowd clapped as Naomi stepped up to the microphone. She leaned a little too close and it squealed again. "Thank you, thank you," she said, holding up her hands. "Now I'm gonna sing something very special to a very special person." She was only slurring her words slightly. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd and landed on Emily at the table; her entire face lit up and it made Emily smile despite the fact that her girlfriend was probably about to make a complete fool of herself.

"Boys," Naomi prompted, pointing to the singular karaoke DJ. The opening music was familiar, but not enough that Emily knew immediately what song it was.

"When I was a younger man. When I was a silly boy," Naomi sang. Emily still didn't know the song but Panda clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing. "I didn't need a thing, I was strong as anything I, viewed solitude as a joy." The crowd started clapping along.

"But since I met you I'm distraught," Naomi pointed right over to their table. "You wandered in and now I'm caught. I never thought that I was see, someone so truly good, someone who's everything I'm not."

It didn't even matter what the song was anymore. The next words could be about pigs flying in red scarves and Emily didn't think her heart could get any lighter. This was what alcohol did to Naomi, it let her be free and be herself and it let other people see the adorably lame version of Naomi that Emily loved.

Naomi bent the microphone stand backwards. "I want to spend my life with you." The crowd cheered. "Don't want to live all alone. I can't conceive of the years left in me, without you in our home."

Emily felt like crying in the best possible way, but Naomi never did anything halfway. She jumped off the stage and onto a nearby table. "But what if, what if, what if what." The crowd sang that part with her. Was Emily the only one who didn't know this song?

"If its not perfect then its not." Naomi picked her way across to another table. Emily made a mental note of who she was going to smack for looking up her skirt. "But every care I'll take. Nothing I won't forsake. To dwell beside what you've got."

Beside her, Katie was laughing until tears leaked out of her eyes. "I don't like Naomi," she said through her laughter, "but you've got to admit she loves the shit out of you Ems."

Emily watched her girlfriend jump off the tables (much to the disappointment of the aforementioned pervs) and land close to their own. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Every time I think about, I think I can't live without you." Naomi was almost to the table by now, shoving empty and occupied chairs aside to get there in time. "I'll tell you something, I am nothing without you."

Naomi attempted the dramatic knee-slide that most leading actors in movies do at this point, remembered partway down that she was in a skirt, and yelped when her knees hit the ground but she looked vaguely proud that she'd managed to land in front of Emily. The fall hindered her singing not at all.

"I want to spend my life with you!" She belted out right to Emily, much to the delight of the rest of the bar who had had no idea who the song was for. "Don't want to live all alone. I can't conceive of the years left in me, without you in our home."

Emily finally lost control and broke out into delighted laughter. She didn't wait for the song to finish before she pulled Naomi up and kissed her soundly. "You," she said between kisses, "are insane."

Naomi smiled against her lips. "Won the bet though."

Effy was the first one at the table to recover. She reached over to grab two jackets from the middle of the table and shoved them at the couple. "Emily, please go sober your girlfriend up before she causes a riot."

Emily giggled and grabbed Naomi's hand, pulling her out the side entrance and onto the street. The cool breeze outside did not come close to touching the warmth in Emily's heart right now. They bundled up and started walking hand in hand towards the river, not even minding that they had managed to mix up and get each others jackets. Emily actually rather liked the feeling of being zipped up in Naomi's jacket instead of her own, if felt infinitely safer. They walked until they came to a little bridge and Emily stopped to lean against the rail and look out at the water. Naomi wrapped Emily up in her arms and the redhead leaned back into the embrace and sighed in contentment.

"So did you like it?" Naomi whispered after a bit where they just stood and enjoyed being together. She sounded significantly less sloshed.

"It was awesome," Emily assured her, grinning. "Maybe you should rethink a career in journalism and go right into music."

"Nah, one famous Naomi Campbell is one too many," Naomi said. She chuckled and Emily felt it through both their bodies. "Plus, what would you do if I went and became a famous singer?"

"I'd go off and become a famous actress," Emily replied instantly. "Actors and singers date all the time."

"Good to know you're managing to keep us dating in this scenario," Naomi quipped. "But still no. I'm not much of an artistic person. Well," she mused, "maybe I could get into painting. Then I'd be a starving artist, though, and you'd have to be something that makes a lot of money, like a doctor."

Emily snorted. "Maybe in another life. No, I'm much happier teaching the future doctors their ABCs."

"Teach them better handwriting, yeah?" Naomi requested.

Emily chuckled. "I'll try," she said.

They were quiet again for a couple of minutes. Emily traced shapes on the back of Naomi's hand. "You ever wonder how we managed to beat the odds?" she asked suddenly into the silence.

"Hmm?" Naomi mumbled against her neck, which she took as 'what do you mean?'.

"I mean if you listen to JJ talk then statistically speaking we shouldn't exist. Two different schools, even in the same city, and all these distractions and temptations and we're still just as in love as when we moved up here. I barely even notice anyone else anymore."

Naomi laughed against her skin. "Don't notice people, hmm?"

"Well, maybe some people. That exchange student from Tokyo is kind of cute," she teased. Naomi went to pull away but Emily kept a grip on her hands and kept herself firmly in the blond's arms. "I'm joking."

"I know," Naomi kissed just underneath her ear. "Anyone else?"

"Tattooed biker chick in my Development class," Emily said, still grinning as she leaned her head against Naomi's collarbone to allow the blond better access to her neck.

"Tattoos, huh?" Naomi asked as she placed a kiss on Emily's throat. "I was thinking about getting a tattoo."

"Hmm?" was the only thing Emily could articulate, being far too distracted by Naomi's lips on her skin.

"Yeah, a little letter E. What do you think?"

"I think it'd be badass, go for it," Emily mumbled.

"Not going to get an N?" Naomi teased.

"Nope," Emily said. "I'm a wimp. I'll hold your hand, though."

"Duly noted."

They fell into a comfortable silence again. Around them the world kept moving: car alarms went off, the music from a club down the river sent vibrations through the earth, a dog barked in the distance. But right there in that moment they were perfectly happy. It was probably the happiest Emily had ever been.

"Emily," Naomi said softly. The air seemed to get quiet around them then, as if the rest of the world had gone from existing around them to ceasing to exist altogether. "Je t'aime."

She shivered happily. She knew what that meant - she had told Effy that Naomi taking French when she got to Goldsmiths was the sexiest thing the blond had ever done (Naomi had been rather put out by that, actually).

"Emily," Naomi said again.

"Hmm?" Emily said again, too warm and content and happy to say anything else.

Naomi let go with one arm and reached around into the pocket of the jacket Emily was wearing. She pulled something out. "Restez avec moi pour toujours," Naomi whispered against the back of her neck. "Stay with me forever."

Emily looked down and her heart stopped, then picked up again at twice the speed. It was a little black ring box and maybe it wasn't the most expensive ring in the store and maybe it was bought on the budget of a university student, but it was the most beautiful thing that Emily had ever seen.

She spun around in Naomi's arms and searched her lover's face. Naomi watched her do this much more calmly than Emily would be if the situation was reversed.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked quietly. She wanted this more than anything, but they hadn't actually talked about it and she didn't want Naomi to have asked just because she thought it was what Emily wanted...

Naomi's return smile was so full of love and adoration that Emily almost burst into tears on the spot. "I wouldn't have been carrying it around in my pocket for weeks if I wasn't sure, Ems."

That was enough. Emily launched herself up and kissed Naomi until both of them had trouble standing upright.

"Then yes. A million times yes."

* * *

Emily came back to the present to see Naomi looking at her and smiling affectionately.

"Good place in your head?" she asked.

"The best," Emily grinned. She leaned forward to kiss her love, but they were interrupted partway through.

"Ewwww," Mia said emphatically in the tone of a child who really did not need to be reminded that her parents kissed.

"Eww yourself, squirt," Naomi made a face at the little girl, who made one right back. "Maybe I should rethink letting you put the star on top and do it all myself."

Mia looked alarmed. "No! Kiss all you want! You promised I could put the star on!"

Emily laughed. "She's teasing, sweetheart, of course you can put the star on top."

"Of course I am," Naomi stood up and brushed hair out of Mia's eyes. "Come on, I'll help you reach."

Emily started clearing away the boxes that the decorations came in as Naomi put Mia on her shoulders and reached up with her to straighten the star on top of the tree. She felt herself humming under her breath and grinned.

"I want to spend my life with you..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch the references to some old school Naomily fics and get a cookie.


	4. Make Me A Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A walk down memory lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

Naomi was good at a lot of things. The relatively simple task of moving boxes into their new home, she was quickly discovering, was not one of those things. She shouldered her way through the door and the back of her heel smacked against the doorstop. The box in her arms threw off her equilibrium and she sacrificed the box so she could grab onto something to hold herself steady. The box fell straight down and landed with a nice heavy thud right on her foot. 

"Ow, ow, mothereffing ow," she howled. She hopped around, trying to keep her weight off the hurt appendage, and by the time Emily had made her way inside with two more boxes Naomi was cursing the offending object until she was blue in the face.

"I don't think the box appreciates being called the bastard child of a dead log and a lonely staple gun," Emily said. Her voice was muffled from behind the boxes but amused nonetheless.

Naomi stood up to take half the burden away from her fiance, being careful how she held the box this time. "Yeah, well, it should be properly ashamed of its actions," she grumbled.

Emily smirked. "I'm sure the box is sorry. How's your foot?"

"It hurts." Naomi balanced on one leg and lifted her foot into the air, grinning. "Kiss it better?"

"Gross," Emily smacked her foot away. "Keep your feet to yourself, Campbell."

"Maybe I will," Naomi retorted. "Maybe I'll keep my hands to myself too."

This was a completely empty threat. At that exact moment, in fact, even though she was dirty and so sweaty that her clothes were clinging to her skin she had to stop herself from thinking too much about how good Emily looked all dirty and sweaty with her clothes sticking to her body or they would have a problem on their hands that neither had the energy to solve at the moment.

As if to prove this point Emily practically threw herself down onto the bottom step of the staircase in the front hall of their new house. "Why is moving so hard?" she whined, leaning back and throwing an arm over her eyes. "We didn't have nearly this much trouble when we moved our stuff into our dorms."

"Because we didn't have as much stuff then," Naomi pointed out. She lowered herself onto the step next to Em. "And we were only moving your stuff into your dorm and my stuff into mine-"

"-even though they only stayed that way for about a day-"

"-and now we're moving both of our stuff into the same place," Naomi continued as if Emily hadn't interrupted.

Emily groaned. "Stop making sense and let me wallow in self-pity!"

"Oh stop," Naomi grinned. "I told you that we should wait for the boys, but you were all gung-ho about moving our own stuff in in the first place."

"Naomi Campbell, wanting to wait for the men to come around and help? The feminist in you is crying right now."

"The feminist in me can cry all she wants, these bloody boxes aren't going to move themselves," Naomi glared at the boxes as if they had done some personal wrong to her. Which, admittedly, one of them had. "What's in the box of doom anyway?"

Emily lifted her arm away from her eyes and glanced at it. "Dunno. Our mums packed that one, I think. Probably tupperware or something useful like that."

"Your mum helped pack that?" Naomi poked the box with one shoe like it contained explosives. "It probably has rocks in it just in case I happened to drop it on myself."

"I doubt it," Emily laughed. "My mum doesn't plan your torture that far ahead."

"You never know," Naomi mumbled, but she reached over to open the flaps anyway. "Oh my gosh, adorable."

"What?" Emily sat straight up and looked over. "Oh no."

Naomi waved the picture of miniature versions of Katie and Emily in little matching British flag dresses back and forth with a big smile on her face. "Nice, Ems. Very nice."

Emily lunged over and grabbed it out of Naomi's hands. "Why?" she complained. "Why is that in there?"

Naomi shrugged. "Looks like they just packed all the sentimental stuff they found and threw them in here. Oh no." She tried to hide the picture she had just stumbled across but Emily was too quick. The redhead had it out of her hands and had darted out of reach before Naomi could retaliate.

"Aww," she teased, holding up the picture of six year old Naomi on the shoulders of a protester, grinning at the camera with a big, gap-toothed smile. "Cute!"

Naomi blushed. "Okay, paybacks a bitch. I got it. Can I have that back now?"

"Nope, it's being framed forever," Emily snickered. "Right up next to the graduation pictures." But she put the picture down and leaned over to look back in the box again.

"Aww, hey, the tickets to our first concert together."

"Hey," Naomi reached in and grabbed the two pieces of white cardboard. "How did they even find these? I thought we lost them."

"So did I. Oh!" Emily's arm darted out and grabbed something in the box. She pulled out a white bear holding a big red heart. She grinned when Naomi blushed. "From our first Valentine's Day together."

"It's cute, you're cute, I thought it fit," Naomi defended herself.

But as she watched Emily start digging through the box again she couldn't help but think, Not our first Valentine's Day, my love...

As if the thought manifested itself into reality, Emily gasped. "My gosh, how did she even...I didn't even know I still had this!" She pulled out the worlds most neatly cut out paper heart. Well, half of a heart. It was obvious the maker had put a great deal of thought and attention into it. It was made out of red cardboard, with smaller brown insets carefully cut and pasted. The words along the sides were written diligently in Sharpie: "Happy Valentine's Day, Emily. This is only half a heart because I have the other half. I just wanted to you know that someone cares. And when you find the other half..."

The words trailed off. Obviously the end of the message was on the other half of the heart.

Emily sighed. She smiled affectionately at the little piece of cardboard. "I never did find out who gave this to me. It was the nicest thing anyone ever did for me in middle school, you know?"

Naomi knew.

* * *

  
Valentine's Day was the day that Katie Fitch obviously loved more than her designer clothes, maybe more than life itself. She didn't even have a new boyfriend of the week on Valentine's Day, just a whole group of wishful suitors vying for attention.

Twelve-year-old Naomi rolled her eyes at the debacle the boys in her class were making of themselves. One boy had even managed to convince his parents to let him buy a dozen roses, "Red like your hair" he said shyly when he presented them to Katie.

Naomi scoffed. Roses didn't take effort. Roses didn't show that you actually cared about someone. Her Mum always said that caring came from the heart, not the wallet. While she was thinking how much better it would have been if the boy had made a dozen roses, her eyes, as they always did, slid past Katie.

There. Always there, just a little in the shadows, Emily Fitch watched with a sad and knowing little smile. Two hours into the school day and already Katie's bag was full of Valentines but Emily had yet to get one. It made Naomi furious. Everyone fawned over Katie like she was God's gift to the school because she dressed in hotter clothes, when it was Emily with her kind brown eyes and sad smile who was prettier, sweeter, kinder. Maybe people would have noticed if Katie wasn't always making sure that people knew that Emily was off-limits. An admirable older sister, but an overbearing one. Emily could take care of herself.

Not that Naomi would know. Not that she had been watching.

It took her three hours to figure out how her plan was going to go down without the Bitch Fitch noticing. The Fitch twins didn't take the bus but waited for their parents to pick them up at the end of the day. Naomi knew this because she biked to school and sometimes she just hung around by the bike rack until the traffic had cleared and she could ride safely without the fear of mowing over innocent firsties.

Not that she hung around to make sure that Emily got picked up safely or anything.

On most days Katie would spend this time chatting and laughing and mingling with the rest of the people who were too cool to ride the bus or who had protective parents. Katie liked to think she was the former. Naomi knew they were picked up because it was the latter. Emily would spend the time sitting on the low wall, usually with her arms wrapped around her knees and reading a book.

Today was no different, except maybe there were more boys around Katie then usual. This was fine because more boys meant more distractions.

Emily didn't notice her when she walked close to the wall. The little redhead looked up with concern when Naomi 'stumbled' over a bag and almost jumped off the wall to help but Naomi waved her off. Still, her low voice asking 'Are you okay?' set off strange little butterflies in Naomi's stomach. She hurried away as quickly as possible.

There. Planted. Hopefully with Emily none-the-wiser. Naomi walked slowly over to her bike like she did every day, trying extra careful to make sure it looked like she didn't have a care in the world. She leaned over her bike and pretended to be having trouble with the lock, when really she was watching Emily.

The Fitch family car pulled up into the queue of other cars waiting and honked. Naomi watched as Emily put her book away and leaned down to get her bag.

 _Please see it, please see it, please see it_ , she thought.

Naomi knew the moment Emily saw the little cardboard heart with her name on it sitting on the ground next to her bag, because Emily's brown eyes focused immediately in like she couldn't quite comprehend what it was doing there. That made Naomi's heart hurt a little, because it felt like with Katie around no one had ever thought to give Emily a Valentine before.

She watched, then, as Emily's face lit up in a smile that Naomi thought she might cherish for the rest of her life. It wasn't just sweet, because all of Emily's smiles were sweet, it was also completely and unabashedly happy. Even when the car honked again more impatiently Emily's smile didn't fade. She grabbed her bag and ran off to the car, still with the little cardboard heart clutched tightly in one hand.

Operation Make Emily Smile, success. Naomi rode home with her own big smile plastered on her face and it didn't fade for the rest of the day.

* * *

This was the time to lean forward and kiss Emily just because she could. She did so immediately. "Hold that thought," she said, and stood up to rummage around in the boxes that had come from her old room at her mum's house.

"What's up?" Emily asked. She made a happy little noise when something light fluttered out of the box and onto the floor. "Is that the original?"

Naomi looked down and a smile worked its way onto her face automatically. It was a little slip of paper with the words 'Emily Slept Here' and a smiley face. "Yeah," she said. "I've kept it for years."

Emily grabbed the paper and lifted it to her lips. Naomi smiled wider. It was 'the original' because it had become their thing in university. Whenever Emily stayed over Naomi's dorm (which was more often than either of them would admit) and had to leave early for class in the morning, if Naomi was still asleep Em would find a piece of paper (didn't matter what kind: blank, post-it, an old receipt) and write 'Emily Slept Here' and leave it on the pillow. Just one of the many little things she did every day that told Naomi she was loved more than words could ever express.

But it wasn't what she was looking for.

"Come on," she growled at the box. "I know you're in here. Come here you little bugger. Ah ha!" She grabbed into the box triumphantly and spun around with something clutched firmly in her fist. She smiled hesitantly at Emily and placed a little half-heart of cardboard on the floor next to Emily's. "Jinx."

Emily's eyes widened. She looked from the now-whole heart on the floor (the other half simply said "...you'll know"), to her fiancee, and back again so many times Naomi thought she might develop whiplash. Then she stood up and pulled Naomi down into a long kiss.

"I love you, you know that?" Emily whispered softly.

Naomi thought of days and nights by the lake, of moments out dancing and cuddling at home watching movies, of the little notes Em would leave in the morning, of the way she herself would get up in the middle of the night sometimes to make sure Emily's feet were warmly cocooned in the blanket because she knew that the little redhead's greatest fear in the whole world was someone reaching out from under the bed and grabbing them, and she smiled. "I know," she said.

They stayed like that, forehead to forehead, for several long minutes before Emily kissed her again and sighed.

"We should get the rest of the boxes out," Emily said unhappily.

"Em," Naomi whined. "We just had a moment! And I'm finally not hot and sweaty for the first time all day! Can't we just wait till everyone else gets here?"

Emily grinned and kissed the corner of her mouth. "You know what I can think of that would get you hot and sweaty again?" she asked in a low voice that sent shivers up Naomi's spine.

"Yeah?" she prompted.

Emily leaned in until her lips were millimeters from Naomi's. "Getting the rest of the boxes out of the truck," she whispered, and then took off upstairs before Naomi could respond.

"What? Hey!" Naomi yelped. "That's playing dirty, Fitch!"

Emily's delighted laughter floated downstairs and Naomi grinned as she took the stairs two at a time.

The boxes could definitely stand to wait a little bit longer.


	5. Bring Me Some Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obligatory author tries to be pretentious and poetic chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

The first big time Naomi Campbell ever said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch, she was fourteen years old. She didn't actually say the words, but her hands gripped Emily's shirt tightly when the little redhead leaned forward and clumsily pressed their lips together and her heart thumped wildly against the inside of her chest. It spelled out the words in Morse code against her ribs, 'I love you, I love you, I love you', and it was so loud she was afraid Emily had heard the words anyway.

(And even later, after everything that happened, when Emily apologized for lying, her poor dormant heart picked up again and thumped out the words just for her. I know you're sorry. I forgive you. I love you. Even if Naomi herself didn't forgive Emily quite yet.)

.

The second big time Naomi Campbell said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch, it was by the lake. It started out because she needed to escape her world. Emily had always provided comfort for her, had always made their little world safe to live in, and so she was glad when they took off together for the day. Leaving with the one person who ever made her feel comfortable in her own skin (and consequently the only person who ever made her feel anything close to whole) was just what she needed. And first she was warm by the fire, and then she was warm for an entirely different reason. She had kissed Emily, she had instigated it for the first time ever, and while Emily set both of them on fire she was sure she gasped the words out at some point during the night.

(That was why she left later. Because while the sun rose and lit Emily up like an angel she couldn't stand the peaceful and content look on the redhead's face. What if Emily had heard the words that had slipped out, unheeded? She hadn't meant to say them, not then, and so she ran.)

.

The third big time Naomi Campbell said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch was after the Love Ball. Maybe she hadn't been quite ready to tell everyone just yet, and maybe Emily's big declaration in the middle of the school had made her heart beat fast with fear, but it also beat with adoration and, yes, love. She wasn't sure she ever loved Emily more than in that moment when the little redhead had finally stood up to Katie for what she believed. For Naomi. Because if Emily believed they could work than maybe they could, maybe every obstacle in their path was just a stepping stone, and if she stumbled over any of them Emily would be right there to grab her hand and lead her over. So she said it for the first time out loud, in a strong clear voice: "I love you too, you know?"

(The way Emily said "I know" made her think that maybe she hadn't had her walls up as securely as she thought, if Emily already knew. Or maybe Emily had heard more by the lake than Naomi had planned.)

.

She said it constantly over the summer. Any time she felt like she wanted to say it the words would fall off her lips effortlessly. Emily would always smile that smile that told the world she was so happy she was going to burst, and Naomi would kiss her because she loved seeing Emily smile like that.

.

The fourth big time Naomi Campbell said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch, she was crying. Her guilt and secrets were stewing in the pit of her stomach and raged against the inside of her body when Emily came upstairs and adorably fed her a Garibaldi. Her heart shouted 'Why why why' and banged around in her chest and, later, when Emily promised not to forget, 'I'm sorry. Forgive me. I love you.'

(She thought Emily may have broken her promise once or twice in the next couple of months. But that was okay, because Naomi had broken hers first. They kept picking up the pieces and maybe she would never say it back but anytime Naomi said 'I love you' she would nod just like she did that day on the bed and it was moments like that that said, Okay, maybe we'll be all right after all.)

.

The fifth big time Naomi Campbell said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch, she was crying again. Somehow this girl always made her cry. It was okay, though, because Emily needed to know. She needed to know that Naomi needed what they used to have back more than she needed air or water. She didn't know how to exist without Emily and it had taken up until now to realize that it was okay to not know how to exist without Emily, because the redhead made her feel more like herself than she ever did when she was alone. So she stood up in front of their friends and she used her words to pour her heart out the only way knew how.

(When Emily kissed her, when she knew she was finally forgiven, she broke down more. Because the whole time her heart had been beating out a broken song: Please please please I need you please and now it could go back to its normal rhythm of I love you, I love you, I love you again.)

.

The sixth big time Naomi Campbell said 'I love you' to Emily Fitch, she was dressed in white.

(This part needs no explanation.)

.

She didn't say it all the time anymore, but she didn't need to. Oh, she would. Anytime and every time she felt like it, or felt like Emily needed to hear it. But Emily knew, now. Emily always knew. Naomi said 'I love you' when she kissed Emily good morning, and when she kissed her when she came home from work, and when they would lock eyes while one of them helped Mia with her homework, and Naomi said 'I love you' in another big way the first time she called Mia their daughter.

* * *

 

" _And if a bullet gets me, so help me, I'll laugh at myself for being an idiot. There's one thing I do know... and that is that I love you, Scarlett. In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you._ "

Naomi turned down the volume on the tv so she wouldn't disturb her two sleeping girls. All three of them were scrunched up together on the living room couch, and Mia and Emily had fallen asleep sometime in the last twenty minutes or so. Naomi's arm was along the back of the couch behind both of them and it was actually getting a bit numb, but she wouldn't move it for the world. Mia looked like she should have been uncomfortable, squished so tightly between them, but she had the goofiest little smile on her face as she snored on peacefully. She was curled up tight into Emily, who had one arm cuddled behind Mia and other resting free in the space between her and her wife. She used her free arm to pull a blanket over all three of them.

Naomi wanted to tell them how much she loved both of them here, in this moment, asleep in their living room, but she couldn't without waking them. So she did what she and Emily used to do when they couldn't get away with talking in class, and traced the words along the inside of Emily's wrist.

_'I love you.'_

* * *

"Throughout life you will meet one person who is unlike any other. You could talk to this person for hours and never get bored, you could tell them things and they won't judge you. This person is your soul mate, your best friend. Don't ever let them go." - Unknown

* * *

The first big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, she was fourteen years old. She didn't say the words, but her eyes spoke them for her when she caught up with the other girl after class and tried to apologize for Katie's actions at the party. Her lips said 'I'm sorry for what happened' but her eyes said 'I'm sorry for what Katie did, not what I did. Please forgive me for what's about to happen. I love you.'

(When she thanked Naomi for keeping quiet, when she admitted the truth to Naomi years later, her eyes would still give away her secrets. Her lips said 'I want to kiss you now', her eyes said 'I want to kiss you always'.)

.

The second big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, it was by the lake. She thought she had said it many times with her actions the night before, but she said it most and loudest in her anger. She was angry at Naomi for leaving, angry at her heart for breaking along with her voice, and angry with her mind for thinking she had heard Naomi whisper the words sometime in the night. Her words were angry and said 'Don't you dare leave me in your bed again!' but her eyes were angry and said 'How dare you make me love you this much, Naomi Campbell'

(Years later she would get angry again when the blond laughed when Emily told her this and Naomi would try to placate her by saying 'I could never, ever make you do anything you don't want to Emily Fitch, don't you put that on me'.)

.

The third big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, she was taking her own advice. She was being brave. Emily stood up to Katie, stood up to the school, stood up to her own fears and said 'Yes, I'm gay, and I love this girl, and you better f-ing get over it'. Nothing and no one had ever made Emily feel as complete as she did when she was with Naomi. Not even Katie, who was supposed to be her other half. She didn't actually say 'I love you' , but while her lips were busy saying 'I love her' her eyes said 'I do. I love you. So please be okay with this.'

(Naomi was. She was more than okay. That was probably the best thing about this new 'being brave' approach she was using in life. Because Emily being brave seemed to make Naomi want to be brave too.)

.

And her eyes answered, over the summer. Whenever the words would tumble out of Naomi's mouth like the blond would stop breathing if she didn't say them right at that moment, Emily's eyes would shine. She wouldn't answer back right away because she wouldn't be able to, her heart would be full almost to bursting and she feared if she actually spoke the words it might just explode from happiness. But she answered, with her eyes and with a kiss. She would always answer.

.

The fourth big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, she was scared. Everything was falling apart and in that one moment where Naomi sat up and put on her t-shirt, Emily was scared because it actually looked like Naomi was done. So her lips said 'I love you' without thinking about it, and the way Naomi stopped moving told her she had sent an arrow straight into the blond's heart. When Naomi said don't lie, if she had looked back, she would have seen Emily's eyes and everything they were telling her. 'I'm not lying. I love you so much I might die, and I'm trying so hard right now. Please don't give up. Not yet. I love you.'

(She said it on the rooftop, too. Even when her heart was breaking, her eyes asked 'Why? I love you'. And even when she was so mad she wanted to lash out, even when she wanted to make Naomi hurt the way she was hurting, it hurt that much worse because she couldn't stop loving her. Even when her lips shouted angry words, her eyes would always stay the same, and the words 'I love you' were never far from the surface.)

.

The fifth big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, she didn't say it with her eyes or her words, but with her hands. Her hands that pulled Naomi to her and cradled the back of her head. Her hands that, in the middle of a shed full of their friends, gripped the back of Naomi's shirt like letting go would mean the end of the world.

Her hands that pulled Naomi down for another kiss and said again and again, 'Thank you. Thank you for loving me as much as I love you.'

(Those hands wouldn't be so innocent later, when they proved just how much they loved each other. But for the moment she contented herself with wiping Naomi's tears and actually saying the words, whispering them again and again between kisses, each word as essential as life itself, 'I love you I love you I love you.')

.

The sixth big time Emily Fitch ever said 'I love you' to Naomi Campbell, she was wearing white.

(This part needs no explanation.)

.

Naomi didn't need her to say it anymore, and she didn't need Naomi to say it. They both would, almost every day. The words were as much a part of their routine as making breakfast and picking Mia up from school. But they said it more with the looks they gave each other and the little touches they couldn't stop. Emily said it when she handed Naomi the paper before the blond could ask for it in the morning and when Naomi gave her a little kiss while she handed Emily her coffee. She said it when she left little notes inside the pockets of Naomi's jackets (sometimes they said 'I love you' or a sappy little message and sometimes it was just a heart). She said it in a big way when she took the hand of a little blond-haired, brown-eyed girl who had too much sadness in her little face and asked about adoption.

* * *

 

" _Scarlett! Look at me! I've loved you more than I've ever loved any woman and I've waited for you longer than I've ever waited for any woman._ "

Emily was so comfortable and warm. Mia had her little head tucked into her chest and Emily had never felt safer or happier than in that moment. She could feel Naomi's hand behind them both, keeping them warm and protected, and she was just about to let herself fall asleep when she felt Naomi's hand on her wrist.

Naomi's finger spelling out the words against her skin made her heart beat faster. There had never been and would never be a time when Naomi didn't make her heart jump.

She waited until the last 'u' was traced carefully into the delicate part of her wrist and then she grabbed Naomi's hand as it slid away. Without opening her eyes she brought Naomi's hand up to her lips and kissed her palm, then let their entwined hands fall between them. She snuggled into the blanket and felt Naomi shift and settle in until she was cuddled up with both of them, and Emily thought it was safe enough for a quiet, sleep-laden whisper.

"I love you too."


	6. Give Me Some Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's the timeline of this fic, I hear you ask. Emily is pregnant for like eight chapters, I hear you say. Fuck if I know, I answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

Naomi hated those occasions when work asked her to travel. It wasn't just that she hated living out of her suitcase for any amount of time or that whenever she tried to sleep on a hotel bed all she could think about was that her couch was more comfortable than that.

It was mostly because she missed Emily. Which was pathetic, when you think about it, because she didn't think she'd started out life needing someone this much. When they were just engaged and especially right after they got married Naomi would never be able to sleep when she was away. She'd turn and flip over in bed until she worked herself up and finally fell asleep because she was exhausted; in the morning she would wake up and her left hand would already be reaching out to other side of the bed before her brain remembered where she was.

She thought after they'd been married for a while it would get better, but it had just gotten worse. Instead of just missing Emily's presence, she found herself missing all the little things as well. Waking up to Emily singing in the shower in the morning, sitting at the kitchen table going over her work and stopping to steal a kiss every time Emily walked by doing something or other. And now, for the last year, she missed a little voice calling her name and a little body snuggling up for a bedtime story.

So this? This unfortunate little airport worker who was telling her that her flight might not be leaving at all tonight? Well, maybe Emily and Mia had softened her considerably, but Naomi Campbell could still be a bitch on command.

"What do mean it's not leaving?" she snarled. "We were supposed to be boarding an hour ago!"

"There seems to be some sort of technical difficulty with the plane," the girl stammered. She looked flustered and held a stack of folders against her chest as if they would protect her from Naomi's wrath.

"So get another one!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's not as simple as that. If you stay in the area I promise I'll make an announcement as soon as we have news?"

"It's the night before Christmas Eve," Naomi said emphatically. "I need to be home with my family for Christmas."

For some reason knowing where Naomi's anger came from seemed to make the girl more upset. Naomi figured she must be one of those people who always felt bad when other people were upset. Em was one of those people too.

Thinking of Emily calmed and riled her up at the same time. Calmed, because Emily always had that effect. Riled, because she wanted to be home damn it.

Naomi's lips pressed together tight. "Thank you for trying," she said finally, because if she relayed this story later Emily would probably be mad at her for frightening the poor little attendant.

She spun on her heel and stalked over to the big windows overlooking the tarmac. As she watched a plane taxied and gathered speed. Naomi was always fascinated by planes taking off; they didn't look like they would even get off the ground and then, suddenly, they were in the air. She waited until the lights of the plane had disappeared into the night sky before she went back to her seat and tucked her bags underneath her legs. The gate was packed with other people who were also waiting for the plane from New York to London. The little old woman in the seat next to her looked up when she sat down and gave her a friendly little nod before turning back to her book.

Naomi toyed with her phone. She needed to make two calls, and she wasn't sure which one should go first. Finally she punched the number into her phone and waited. It was five in the afternoon at home right now so her boss picked up on the third ring. She informed him of the problems and he promised to look into another flight, but he reminded her that that had been the only one they had found in the first place, so it sounded like she was going to have to sit tight and wait for them to fix the problem. He sounded nervous. Naomi figured her quiet rage must be transmitting itself through the airwaves.

"Can I respectfully request to never be sent on assignment again?" she asked when he was through babbling about flight times.

He sighed. "Naomi, you're a reporter," he reminded her.

"I'm a politics reporter," she snapped back. "We both know that the only reason I get sent out on travel stuff is because after Jacquelyn quit I was the only one with a passport. Tell them to stop being cheap pricks and hire a new travel reporter!"

Her boss sighed again. She seemed to have that effect on him. "I know, this isn't what we hired you for. We're interviewing next week. You all right for now?"

Naomi breathed in deep and released it slowly. Some of her tension went with it as well as her irritation. It wasn't her boss's fault, really. "Yeah. Just get me home, please?"

"On it. You'll know as soon as I do."

They hung up and Naomi started punching in the next number immediately. It rang for so long Naomi was afraid she'd get the machine before the phone clicked on.

"Fitch-Campbell house, Mia speaking, may I take your order?"

Naomi laughed out loud before she could stop herself. She mouthed ' _sorry_ ' to the old lady, but she looked more amused than annoyed.

"Hello, little love," she said, still chuckling, "who taught you that?"

"Naomi!" Mia cried happily. From the noises on the other end of the phone it sounded like she was jumping up and down. "Uncle Cook did but that's okay when are you gonna be home? You said you'd be home for Christmas!"

The little bit of pleading in Mia's voice made Naomi's heart hurt. "I know, sweetheart. The plane is having a bit of trouble, but I said I'd be home for Christmas and I will be. I promised remember?"

"I remember. Did you get me a present?"

"Amelia!"

Naomi smiled and scrunched her eyes closed to keep the emotions at bay when Emily's voice scolded their daughter in the background. God she missed them both.

"Who are you talking to?" she heard Emily ask.

"It's Naomi she said the plane is sick but she promised she'd be home so it'll be okay!"

There was some rustling and voices Naomi couldn't make out for a second before someone talked again.

"Hey you," Emily said quietly.

Naomi's heart soared. Quite abruptly the flood gates in her heart had opened and instead of just the constant ache of missing them, Naomi felt desperately homesick. It felt wrong; Emily's voice shouldn't be so far away.

"Did you just wrestle the phone away from our daughter?" she asked lightly, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"I might have," Emily answered in the same tone. "What's happened? Mia said something about the plane?"

"Yeah. Some sort of engine trouble. They've delayed the flight until it's double-checked and repaired. They'll tell us as soon as they know anything."

"That sounds like a quote."

"Yes, well, I might've terrorized an employee or two."

"Naomi!" Emily scolded. She was laughing, though, and it made Naomi smile in response. Emily sighed on the other end of the phone. "Mum invited us for dinner tonight. I told her you were supposed to be flying in so-"

"Go," Naomi cut her off. "We have no idea when this thing is going to leave. I might even have to put myself over in a hotel for the night. She invited your sister too?"

"Yes."

"Then go. Mia loves seeing her grandparents and you haven't spent some quality time with your twin in a while." She heard Emily hesitate. "I'll be fine, Em. What have I got to do but sit in an airport and wait for my flight? It won't help if you're sitting at home waiting for my flight or sitting at your Mum's house."

"You're right."

"I know I am," she said smugly. Emily made the annoyed little noise she always did when she wanted to hit her but couldn't and her smug smile grew.

"Okay, all right," Emily relented. "We'll go."

"Good. Give Abby a kiss for me, will you? And, I dunno, think up a good insult for Katie."

Emily laughed again. It was sad and Naomi wished she was there to banish the sadness entirely. It felt like only half her heart was beating, it was uncomfortable and painful and she would never get used to feeling that way.

"I love you, Naoms," she said.

"Love you too, Em," Naomi answered in kind. "I assume the brat is upstairs getting ready? Tell her I love her too. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

"Bye."

"Bye."

She clicked off her phone and immediately wanted to dial home again. The urge was so great her fingers started to move before her brain caught up and she had to erase a few of the numbers off the screen. Her chest was tight and she felt like if she opened her mouth to do anything, even breathe, then she might start crying.

To fight the feeling she brought out her laptop and started in on some articles that she technically didn't have to finish until next week. It gave her mind something to focus on besides how much she wanted to be in that car in Bristol heading towards the Fitch's house. She didn't even like Jenna Fitch. She just wanted to be there.

She was done far sooner than she expected and, seemingly without thinking about it, she clicked open her videos and ran through until she found her favorite one. She notched the volume down as Mia's voice came out of the speakers, tiny and excited.

 _"I'm telling you! It was the world's biggest crab!"_ she was saying in the video. The point of view shook as the camera-holder, Emily, started laughing.

 _"How big was it?"_ Emily's voice asked from behind the camera.

 _"HUGE!"_ Mia exclaimed, and she threw out her arms as far as they could go. _"It was bigger than this! It was prehis-prehis... Naomi? What's that word again?"_

 _"Prehistoric,"_ Naomi's own voice sounded from off camera. The point-of-view panned to the side and showed Naomi herself walking over laden down with beach towels. _"What's prehistoric, Mia?"_

_"Yeah, that. I found a crab like that!"_

_"Mia found a horseshoe crab on the beach,"_ Emily's voice said.

_"No! It was a DINOSAUR!"_

Naomi chuckled as the video ended and someone else echoed her. She turned to look at the little old lady beside her and the woman smiled sheepishly at being caught.

"You have a beautiful family," the woman said so sincerely that Naomi couldn't even find it in herself to be angry with her for spying.

"Thank you, I know," Naomi said. She tried to work out how the woman knew they were all a family and her face must have been hilarious because the woman started chuckling.

"Sixth sense, dearie. You live as long as I do and you find yourself knowing these things. Oh don't you worry, sweet, my youngest granddaughter is gayer than the Fourth of July. I'll have to tell her about you when I get home from my little trip. It's nice to see good girls like you settling down and being happy."

She gave Naomi another smile and turned back to her book without another word. Naomi smiled to herself just as the little airport employee scurried back up to make an announcement.

* * *

Naomi's dropped her keys twice before she actually got them into the lock. The plane had been boarded so quickly she hadn't had the chance to call home, and of course she couldn't while they were in the air. By the time she landed in Heathrow it was five in the morning and she just flagged down a cab for the two-hour trip from London to Bristol.

So now she was juggling her bags and her keys at the same time, desperately trying not to wake up the whole house. She managed to get in without much noise and she dropped her bags in the living room before creeping upstairs; she'd bring them up in the morning.

Emily was asleep already, curled up in a little ball with her face buried in the pillow Naomi normally used. She moved a little in her sleep when Naomi walked in but didn't wake up. Naomi kicked off her shoes and wriggled out of her jeans. As she climbed in and laid down carefully behind Emily a memory surged up from the back of her brain: waking up with a sixteen-year-old Emily in her bed, hair splayed out across her pillows like fire. She had reached out and touched Emily's hair then because she couldn't not touch this beautiful thing in front of her, but it was feather-light and she had pulled away quickly.

Now she reached out again, and although she was careful not to wake her there was nothing hesitant about her touch. She ran her fingers through Emily's hair and then burrowed them down until she made contact with the warm skin at the back of her love's neck. She ran her fingers down, softly tracing Emily's back, brushing lightly over the point of her shoulder-blade. Emily turned towards the touch, then rolled over completely and buried herself in Naomi's arms.

"You're home," she said quietly. "Mia was worried you wouldn't be."

Naomi pressed her face into Emily's shoulder and sighed happily. "Like I would miss the look on your Mum's face when we tell her the news." Her arms moved to wrap around Emily completely and her hands came to rest on the redhead's stomach.

"I had an interesting talk with Katie," Emily said, covering Naomi's hands with her own.

"Interesting how?"

"I guess Mia cried to her the other day."

"What?" Naomi almost got out of bed and went to Mia's room before deciding that waking up a six-year-old so early in the morning was not a great parenting decision. "Why?"

"I was scared."

Mia hovered cautiously in the doorway. She had this habit when she was unsure of herself: she would hold herself on her tiptoes, her arms slightly out to the side, so that she looked like a bird that at any minute was just going to fly off. It was the origin of Naomi's own personal nickname for her, 'little bird'.

"Come on in, sweetheart," Emily said, pulling herself out of Naomi's arms and making room between them for Mia. The little girl ran over and threw her body into the space, snuggling down and wrapping her arms around Naomi. Emily put her arms around both of them. "What were you scared about?"

"That you're gonna love the new baby more than you love me, cause its gonna be yours and you only adopted me."

Naomi and Emily locked eyes over Mia's head.

"No," Naomi said firmly. "No, no, no. That is never going to happen, Mia."

"We did adopt you," Emily said. "But that's not any different than this baby, except that I didn't have to carry you around for nine months we just got to take you home and love you right away."

"And our love won't be any different," Naomi added before Mia could say anything. "In fact, our love for you is rather special because we chose to you love you. You're our little bird and nothing is ever going to change that. Got it?"

Mia nodded.

"Good," Emily said. "Now the next time you think about something like that don't ever think you can't come to us okay?"

Mia nodded again. "Okay," she said. "You promise?"

"We promise," Naomi answered for both of them. "Now is everyone still sleepy or should we just get up and have tea?"

"Tea. Did you bring me a present?" Mia asked excitedly.

"Amelia!"

Naomi laughed. "Yes, it's in my brown bag. Go get it." She watched as Mia vaulted out of bed and down the stairs like her pants were on fire, and took the opportunity to roll over and kiss Emily for a minute or two.

It was good to be home.


	7. Show Me A Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So like how many flashbacks do you think I managed to put in one story?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

The teacher's lounge was empty when Emily walked in during lunch, for which she was eternally grateful. Sometimes the teachers could be just as difficult to work with as the kids and she needed a moment of rest. Outside she could hear the shrieks and yells of kids playing and she thanked her lucky stars today wasn't her day to watch them. She wandered over to the couch and spent a brief moment wondering if she could get away with taking a nap and blaming it on the pregnancy hormones. She had just decided it might be a good idea when a few other teachers moseyed in and her dreams of a nap were crushed.

"Afternoon, Emily. How are you feeling?" Mia's teacher Janice said as she came over and sat across from her.

Emily smiled at her because she actually was a lovely woman who had no idea she had just interrupted Emily's peace. "Tired. How's my girl doing?"

"Smart as a whip like always. Good Lord, what do you put in her food? If we could get half the kids to be as enthusiastic about school as she is the grades would skyrocket."

Janice smiled kindly at her. "As for being tired, I know the feeling. Getting grumpy yet?"

Emily's mind flashed back to snapping at Naomi this morning for doing nothing wrong besides bumping into her a few times while they navigated around each other making breakfast. She winced. "A little."

Janice laughed. "It'll pass, believe me. I must have ripped Brad's head of at least twice every morning. It's a wonder he stuck around. Water?"

"Please."

Janice got up to get them stuff from the fridge and Emily debated calling Naomi and apologizing for being a twat. She was still deciding when her phone beeped. Lifting it out of her bag, she checked the front screen: One New Message. It was from Naomi.

**Creepy travel reporter temp is hitting on me again. I told him I was married and to whom. xx**

Emily wondered if it was possible to smile and frown at the same time. Smile, because "whom"? Only Naomi would use proper grammar in a text. And frown, because her hormones were all over the place lately and the thought of someone hitting on Naomi made her wish crimes of passion were legal in England as well as France. Also, the text was completely out of the blue. Emily was wondering what the point of it was when her phone beeped again.

**Turns out that was counterproductive to dissuading him from leering at me. xx**

Emily laughed, then, which she was sure was Naomi's intention. She typed back: **Tell him your wife is four months pregnant and hormonal. Men like their parts where they are. xxx**

It took thirty seconds for Naomi to respond: **Violent. I like it. xx**

Emily was still snickering when Janice sat back down. The other woman grinned at her.

"Your wife?" she asked, handing Emily her water over the table.

"Yup," Emily answered, accepting it and downing half the thing in one go. She'd been thirsty like crazy lately. "I think it's her way of saying she's not mad for me being a bitch this morning."

"Subtle." Janice reached into her bag to grab some paperwork and started working on it. "Tell her I said hi?"

Emily nodded and typed that out. J **anice says hi. xxx**

**Janice is awesome. xx**

Emily chuckled. "My wife thinks you're awesome."

"That's because your daughter is my favorite student," Janice pointed out, but she was chuckling too. Emily turned back to her phone conversation, waiting for Naomi to text again, and it reminded her so much of college that the memories rushed in on their own.

* * *

 

"You know what, Naomi? Fine. I honestly couldn't care right now. Have a great day!" Emily closed her phone viciously and spun around to head inside for homeroom. A couple that had previously been snogging each others faces off under a tree were staring at her, wide-eyed. "Problem?" she asked them. They scurried away under the force of her glare.

_Whoa, a little voice in the back of her head said, way to channel your girlfriend Emily. Or worse. Katie would be so proud._

Speak of the devil...the whole group looked up as Emily marched over to the front doors with a monumental scowl on her normally kind face.

"What's up Emsy?" Panda asked innocently.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Ignore Emily. Mum made her sleep at home last night, she's probably pissy cause she didn't get any this morning."

Pandora blinked. "Any what?"

"I'll explain later, Panda," Effy said, patting her arm. Panda shrugged and went back to talking with JJ about...something. Emily actually wasn't sure what they were talking about and she couldn't find enough energy to care.

"I am not pissy because I didn't get any," Emily hissed at her sister. "I'm angry because my girlfriend decided school wasn't important enough to attend today."

Panda looked up again. "How did you know Naomi's not coming in?"

"They have secret lezza senses," Katie answered before Emily could open her mouth. "They tell her what Campbell is doing and where she is."

"Really?"

"Yeah. How do you think the bitch kept showing up wherever we were, at Cooks party and when we sold weed for Thomas and shit? Lezza senses."

"Really?"

It was Emily's turn to roll her eyes. "That's not true, Panda."

"Funny," Katie pointed out.

"But not true," Emily said. She shoved her sister. "I talked to her on the phone."

Pandora actually looked disappointed that Emily didn't possess some kind of lesbian superpower.

Effy was leaning into Freddie's chest and watching everything unfold with a little smirk on her face. "Lezza senses," she repeated. "Nice. Why is our dear Naomi absent today?"

"She says she's sick," Emily replied, her scowl returning with a vengeance. "She's got a bloody hangover, is what she's got."

Cook laughed his big, howling laugh. "I'd've told her to suck it up," he said. "We've all got hangovers today, innat right Fredster?"

Freddie grinned ruefully and massaged the side of his head. "Probably shouldn't have gone out last night."

The bell rang and Katie looped her arm through Emily's, pulling her along towards Kieran's class and homeroom. "Are you joking? Did you see all the fit boys out last night? Totally worth it."

Emily was still scowling. It wasn't often that she was completely and totally annoyed with Naomi. Exasperated and frustrated, yes, but not angry. She hated it when they fought, but she had been really looking forward to spending some quality alone time with her girlfriend last night, and first the gang calling to get together, and then the interference of Jenna actually being a mother for ten seconds, had completely trashed that plan. You know what else was completely trashed? Naomi, last night.

 _She's got a hangover, serves her right_ , Emily grumbled to herself. _We all bloody do. Except maybe Cook, but that's because he's 70% alcohol anyway._

Katie knocked her out of her thoughts when she stopped them and let everyone else walk into Kieran's class ahead of them. Emily's scowl morphed into a frown of confusion.

"Something for you?" she asked, maybe a little harshly.

"Don't mistake what I'm about to say," Katie said. She un-hooked their arms and put both hands on her hips. "But I'm glad you two are fighting."

Emily's jaw dropped. "Katie, I'm already having a bad day, can you just-"

"I'm not being a bitch!" Her twin defended herself. "I'm just saying I'm glad you two aren't perfect. It can't all be rainbows and puppies, Ems. All the relationship experts say that every good couple fights once in a while. So I'm happy to see you get into a spat for once, yeah?"

"You read too many magazines," Emily deflected, but she couldn't deny her sister had a point. Still. Fighting with Naomi was not high on her list of things she wanted to do today.

Katie smirked and hooked their arms again, leading them into the classroom. "You're just jealous cause I'm right. And I'm awesome."

Emily sat down at her usual desk and rolled her eyes at her sister. It escaped absolutely no one's attention that Katie was sitting where Naomi usually sat. Halfway through Kieran rattling on about how much he really didn't give a flying shit about the new form rules, Emily's phone beeped. Kieran ignored it completely because he was Kieran and was known to take phone calls in the middle of lectures. No double standards in this class.

She tugged it out of her pocket and glared at the screen. One New Message. Emily flipped her thumb between the 'Accept' and 'Reject' button a few times. It was her habit when she got fed up with fighting with Naomi to just hang up, and sometimes the blond would retaliate with the annoying habit of continuing the argument via text. She decided she couldn't possibly be any more annoyed with her girlfriend than she already was and clicked 'Accept'.

**Do you have a Band-aid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you. xx**

Emily bit the inside of her lip to keep a smile in check. _No, I am still mad at you Campbell. Stop trying to get out of it by being cute._ Annoyed with herself for even thinking that Naomi was cute at the moment she shoved her phone behind her books and crossed her arms.

Katie grumbled. "If you're going to be like this all day, I'm sitting with Effy."

Naomi's next text came during her math class. She was already annoyed with JJ because he wouldn't stop talking about the project they had do at the end of the week and she was grateful for the interruption of her phone beeping.

**Are you a thief? Because I'm pretty sure you stole my heart. xx**

The smile slipped onto her face before she could stop it. She quickly rubbed her forehead to block her expression and made the smile disappear. When she was sure her face was blank again she turned to JJ and he was fiddling with something behind his books. He saw her looking at him and smiled, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"What was that?" she asked curiously.

"A favor," he said. "So about the project..."

The next one happened in English class. The room was entirely quiet as they read through the Canterbury Tales when her phone went off again. Emily smacked her pocket to keep it from making any more noise and it died out. Thankfully no one ratted on her when Josie demanded to know whose it was.

Emily growled under her breath and opened it up.

**If I said you had a great body, would you hold it against me? xx**

Emily laughed before she could stop herself and hastily turned it into a coughing fit.

Josie looked up, concerned. "Are you all right, Emily? Why don't you go get a drink of water."

Emily nodded and headed out of the room, but not before she noticed Effy playing with her phone under the table. When she got out of the classroom she glared half-heartedly at her phone. This is playing dirty, she thought at it even though it was an inanimate object that couldn't possibly understand. Despite her earlier conviction to hang on to her anger she had always been a sucker for when Naomi was being lame and romantic.

There were no more texts from Naomi for the rest of the day, and every hour that passed where one didn't come was disappointing and lonely. She had abandoned her anger long ago and for the first time in her life she seriously considered skipping a class. But Politics was last and she was pretty sure Kieran would be pissed at her if she skipped class and then he saw her, healthy and dandy, at the Campbell's later (because he would, it was kind of a given).

She had just met up with the gang in front of the school when her phone beeped again.

**That shirt is very becoming on you. Then again, if I was on you, I'd be coming too. xx**

Emily threw her arms into the air in defeat. Cook laughed at the look on her face and sent off a text. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you're spying on her for something," she said, shaking a finger at his faux-innocent face.

Effy smirked. "Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. Guess you'll just have to go find out?"

Emily made a very rude hand gesture in their general direction and took off down the road towards Naomi's house. Gina was just leaving when Emily walked up the path and she held the door open for the little redhead.

"She's in the kitchen," Gina said, winking at her.

Emily grinned back and walked through the house. Naomi was sitting on the kitchen counter, her feet swinging in the air as she played with her phone, smiling a smug little grin. She didn't notice when Emily leaned against the door frame.

"What have you had our friends doing all day?" Emily demanded.

Naomi's head whipped up to look at her and then she grimaced as if the sudden motion hurt her brain. "They've been telling me whether you're smiling or not," she admitted in a low voice.

It was obvious her head hurt so Emily lowered her voice in response. "I'm still mad at you."

"I'm sorry," Naomi said immediately. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a little smile. "For being a twat last night and a bitch this morning, I mean."

 _Damn this girl._ The last bit of annoyance drained out of Emily completely. "I'm sorry too, for pretty much the same thing. It's just...I feel like we haven't had a moment to ourselves in forever."

Naomi grimaced. "I know the feeling."

Emily dropped her bag and walked forward, positioning herself between Naomi's legs and placing her hands on either side of the counter. She lifted up on her tiptoes and captured Naomi's lips in a cute little kiss.

"So I'm forgiven?" Naomi asked when she pulled away.

"Only if I am," Emily responded with a smile.

"Always." Naomi reached forward to pull her closer. She put their foreheads together and sighed. "See? This is nice. We need to do this more often."

Emily reached up and ran her hands through Naomi's hair and linked her fingers together behind her neck. "Still have that headache?" she asked softly.

Naomi frowned a little bit. "Yeah, I was actually going to make myself some coffee before you showed up. Why?"

The little redhead kissed Naomi again and then wriggled out of her arms. She started to back away, pulling at the front of Naomi's sweatshirt so that the other girl slid off the counter and followed her.

"Because," Emily said, "you've been sending me messages all day. And I have a cure for a headache that doesn't involve coffee."

* * *

Emily blinked herself back to the present and grinned at her phone as it beeped.

**You still mad at me? xx**

She quickly flipped her phone open and answered back: **No. xxx**

 _Beep._ **Ha. Still works. xx**

Emily just shook her head and grinned. _Yes, Naomi. You being adorable and lame will always work._


	8. Give Me A Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nursery painting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

"Naoms, I have been madly in love with you since I was fourteen years old. You are brilliant and gorgeous and loveable and the mother of my children, but you cannot paint to save your life." 

"Oh shut up, Emily," Naomi grumbled. She looked down at the paint that completely covered the front of her shirt and smiled sheepishly at her wife. "Actually, I'm not quite sure how that happened."

Emily, who had been ordered to sit in a chair in the corner of the room and not even think about touching a paint brush, was holding herself steady so she could laugh.

"Stop laughing at me," Naomi whined. This only caused Emily to put both hands over her extended stomach and laugh harder. Naomi scowled at her. "Keep it up, Fitch, I hope your water breaks."

Katie appeared in the doorway just in time to hear the end of that sentence; she made a face. "Gross!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed the state of the room and her eyes widened. "Holy shit, Campbell, what the hell did you do?"

"Naomi dropped the paint bucket," Emily said when she regained control of herself.

"From the ceiling?"

"No, from a regular height!" Naomi defended herself. She turned around to glare at her sister-in-law and her eyes widened. "Katie, please tell me those aren't the clothes you're painting in."

Katie looked down at her tight black skirt and leopard-print top and heels and scowled at Naomi. "What's wrong with them?"

"What isn't wrong with them?" Naomi said incredulously. "You're helping us paint the nursery not doing a photoshoot."

Katie crossed her arms. "Just because some people have the fashion sense of a blind monk," she said, "doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer."

JJ was the next person who showed up in the doorway, dressed in a old shirt and coveralls and ready to work. He frowned. "It seems like a mathematical impossibility that a single paint bucket could cover that much square footage on its own," he said, staring at the huge puddle of yellow paint that had somehow spilled across the sheets on the floor.

Naomi was exactly two seconds from pouting and it almost set Emily off into another round of giggles. Katie visibly restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the two of them.

"Right," the older twin said, rubbing her hands together. "Well you have another can of paint, yeah?"

"Maybe?" Naomi said unconvincingly.

Katie's responding eyeroll was epic. She put her hand over her eyes and sighed. "Completely unprepared," she said to no one in particular. "JJ run to the store and get another can, will you? Take Cook with you as well. Tell him we need rollers too, not any of this old-school paintbrush shit."

"What's wrong with my paintbrush?" Naomi asked.

"What isn't wrong with your paintbrush?" Katie shot back.

"Stop," Emily ordered before Naomi could deliver a scathing response back. Both her sister and her wife shut up obediently. "Katie go make sure Mia isn't getting into anything and I'll help Naomi clean up here."

"Um, no," Katie said at the same time that Naomi said "No way!"

Emily whipped around to glare at both of them with her hands on her hips. "I," she said carefully, "am not made of glass! I think I can handle folding some sheets!"

Katie huffed and puffed and grumbled something about pregnancy hormones but went downstairs like she was told. They could hear her yelling when she got to the bottom of the stairs "Hey squirt, you break anything down here?" and Naomi chuckled. Emily shook her head, smiling, and surveyed the damage her wife had wrought on the room.

"You're a disaster," she giggled. Now Naomi was full-on pouting and Emily got up on her tiptoes to kiss the frown away. "I'm joking, babe. I love you anyway."

"Yeah, yeah," Naomi grumbled. She pulled away and reached down to start rolling up the sheets they had covered the floor with, that were now utterly ruined. "At least I didn't get any on the actual hardwood. We'll just have to be extra careful when we paint."

Emily started picking up the paintbrushes scattered across the room and put them on the paint tray where everyone could reach them. She was just bending over to grab the last one when she felt a cold drip across her back. She yelped and stood up straight to see Naomi holding up the paintbrush from earlier and grinning cheekily.

"Naomi!" the redhead reached around and touched her back, covering her fingers with the yellow paint Naomi had smeared there. "Bitch!"

Naomi laughed. "I couldn't help it!" she said. "Your shirt was riding up and it was the perfect opportunity...NO!" She dodged as Emily lunged at her with paint all over her hands, running into the corner and holding her own paintbrush up as a weapon. "Don't even think about it, Em."

"Payback's a bitch," Emily smirked. "But fine, you put down the brush and I'll wipe off my hand."

Naomi narrowed her eyes but lowered the paintbrush onto the tray. The minute the brush left her hands Emily darted forward and wiped her hand across Naomi's cheek and neck.

"You said you wouldn't do that!" Naomi spluttered, wiping at the paint on her face and only managing to smear it further.

"I said I'd wipe off my hand," Emily corrected, grinning. "I never said where." She tried to run away when Naomi lunged for her but the blond was faster and her reach was longer, she grabbed Emily by the sleeve of her shirt and hauled her back around.

"Fine," Naomi growled in a tone that set off flutters in the bottom of Emily's stomach, "play dirty. I'll get you back for that." She pulled Emily tight against herself and kissed her.

They were still kissing when someone cleared their throat in the doorway. Naomi groaned and pulled away, glaring at the intruder. If looks could kill, Effy Stonem would be dead in the hall.

Effy smirked at them. "Don't you two ever stop?" she asked affectionately.

"No," Katie answered for them as she stalked in and cast the eye of an interior designer over the room. "They're acting like a pair of randy teenagers lately, it's college all over again. Oh look, the boys are here with the stuff!" she waved at someone out the window.

Naomi pressed her forehead against Emily's. "Why do we keep her around?" she asked, semi-rhetorically.

Emily snickered and kissed the tip of her nose. "She's my sister and we love her. Supposedly."

"I can hear you," Katie snapped and Effy laughed as she rolled up her sleeves. Cook saved everyone from Naomi's retort by choosing this moment to come clomping up the stairs and into the room, a new can of paint under one arm and a giggling five-year-old under the other.

"Found this watching the telly downstairs," he said. "Belong to anyone up here?"

"Uncle Cook!" Mia complained.

"Must be the neighbor kid again," Emily said lightly. "Always sneaking in to eat our food and watch our TV."

"Emily!" Mia whined.

Naomi started to laugh when she felt a little thump against her stomach. She looked down at where her stomach was pressed tightly against Emily's bump and laughed.

"Sticking up for your sister already?" she asked. She tapped her hand against the top of the bump and it tapped back. "Fine, but only because you say so."

Cook let Mia wiggle out of his grasp and she scampered over to place both little hands on Emily's stomach. "Thank you baby," she said. She jumped and stared up at Naomi and Emily with wide brown eyes. "It moved!"

The entire room cracked up.

"Yeah, babies do that from time to time," Emily said between chuckles.

"Cool!"

Pandora and Thomas arrived just as everyone was recovering from their laughter and when it was explained they both started laughing. "Whizzer cool, right?" Panda asked, ruffling Mia's hair.

Between the eight of them (nine, if you include Mia's attempts to help) they managed, under the careful instructions of Katie, to paint the entire room in less than an hour. When they were finished Katie stepped back and surveyed the warm yellow walls. She nodded to herself and Naomi and Emily shared a chuckle at the proud look on her face.

"Don't even think you need another coat here, Em," Katie said, frowning thoughtfully. "I made Cook by the quick-dry, so let's go eat lunch and after we can come up here and move in the furniture.

"Yes ma'am," Naomi said as she saluted. Katie flipped her off.

* * *

  
Emily walked back into the nursery after lunch and stopped dead in her tracks. Tears started to pool in her eyes but she blinked them away.

Naomi looked at her anxiously. "It's good, right?"

"You guys," Emily said, smiling happily, "this looks awesome. Although I wish you had let me move in some furniture."

"Hey, we saved the best part for you," Naomi said. She held out a picture frame and pointed to the spot on the wall where Cook had already hammered in nail.

Emily just hugged the picture to her and looked around for a bit: at the warm yellow walls, the white trim, the crib in the corner with waves painted on, the blue and white rugs on the hardwood floor. She stared at the room and her friends in amazement. "You guys are going to make me cry," she accused.

Katie snorted. "The hormones are going to make you cry."

"We're just helping," Effy added with a smirk.

Emily rolled her eyes at them and walked over to hang the ultrasound picture on the wall. She took a step back to survey it and then stepped forward again to straighten it out. She nodded in satisfaction and the room broke into applause.

"Cutest ultrasound ever," Panda said excitedly. "At least until we get one right Thommo?"

"Of course, Pandora," Thomas assured her.

"And Katie was telling us about the donor!" Panda whirled around and impulsively hugged Naomi. "That's whizzer cool, yeah? It's like fate, you know?"

"What about the donor?" JJ asked.

Katie smirked. "They spent weeks looking through the files for one and then they stumbled across this guy who was smart, handsome, and get this..." she paused to let the anticipation build and Naomi snorted at her ridiculousness. "He's got eyes almost exactly like Campbell's."

JJ frowned in thought. "While logically speaking the idea of a preconceived version of the world controlled by fate is unlikely I'm going to have to agree with Pandora on this one," he said. "The odds of that happening are somewhere in the range of..." he trailed off when he noticed everyone giving him their 'you're getting locked on' looks. "...a lot," he finished. "It's a really big number."

"Well, you can guess what happened next," Katie said with an affectionate grin. "Em's got super attached to the idea of the baby having Campbell's eyes and she wouldn't change her mind about it. Sentimental cow."

"What's a sentimental cow?" Mia asked innocently, stumbling a bit over the large word.

"Your mother," Katie said and winced when Emily kicked her in the ankle. "I mean, don't worry about it sweetheart."

"Done at last!" JJ said, obviously trying to stave off further violence. "Now I believe when this venture was first proposed I was offered cold beer and that has been severely lacking."

Cook grinned and punched JJ lightly in the arm. "A man after my own heart, Jaykins. Downstairs, right Blondie?"

"Yeah we'll be right down," Naomi said, waving everyone off as they all filed out into the hall downstairs, Mia preceding everyone else, and they distantly heard her ask 'Do I get beer too?' which was almost immediately answered by several versions of 'No!'.

Emily looked at her strangely as they watched everyone leave. "What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing," Naomi said, smiling at her with so much love and affection it practically lit up the room. "Just thought we could use a minute to ourselves."

Emily smiled and leaned up to kiss her, breaking away for only a moment to whisper, "See? I knew I married you for your brains."

Naomi growled half-heartedly and just enjoyed kissing her redhead for a bit. Their quiet moment of bliss was shattered, as always, by Katie's voice floating up from downstairs.

"Hey Campbell if you could pry your lips away from my sister for ten seconds we could really use your help down here. Some of us have plans for later, yeah?"

Emily just laughed and grabbed Naomi's hand, pulling her towards the stairs. Just before she closed the door behind her, though, she turned around for another good look at the nursery and smiled.


	9. Give Me A Heart Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily gets into a little accident. Naomi gets into a little frenzy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

_March 2010_

Naomi sat in the windowsill of her house and forlornly watched as a little redhead revved up her moped and started strapping on her helmet. Emily must have felt eyes watching her because she turned around and gave Naomi the most adorable little wave ever (probably while rolling her eyes but Naomi couldn't tell from this far away). Naomi started to wave back but then crossed her arms and tried to look like she wasn't pouting. From what she could tell from her window it looked like Emily made a face at her before tugging her goggles firmly into place.

Okay, so maybe Naomi was being a little dramatic. She had just had Emily to herself for a whole entire weekend and she knew that Emily was just going back to make a token appearance at the Fitch household for as long as it took to eat dinner and spend a bit of time with her sister. She would most definitely be back and snuggled up in Naomi's bed for the night before they went to college together in the morning and they both knew it. Life had been this way for the past two weeks since what Naomi called the Grand Reconciliation in Freddie's shed (or alternatively, if you asked Katie, the beginning of the Great Lesbian Shagging Marathon of 2010).

Naomi felt a grin start up on her face without warning as she thought back over the past fourteen days. Things were finally, finally back to normal between her and Emily. She didn't think either of them would ever forget what had happened, nor should they, but they had moved beyond it. It wasn't exactly what they had had before. Naomi thought it might actually be better. Because before had been about whirlwinds of passion and claims ownership and outbreaks of jealousy and random bursts of protectiveness. They had known they were in love, yes, and they had relished being in love; for one whole glorious summer they had drifted around in a pink bubble of love and there were butterflies and rainbows and happiness. But mostly there had been uncertainty. Neither of them had known anything beyond how much they loved the other and for some reason that had led to uncertainty and confusion, sprinkled liberally with those moments of clarity and joy.

But now. Now, somehow, after all of the pain, they clicked. Well, that's not entirely true. Naomi traced a raindrop down the window with her fingertip as she thought the next part through. They had always fit together. Two perfectly aligned pieces of the same puzzle, neither looking quite right without the other piece snugly clicked into place. But now each of them had looked at the other and said, Oh okay, I don't know how to exist without you, let's not ever do this being apart thing again, shall we? Naomi looked at Emily and knew this was going to be a forever kind of something; no more uncertainty, no more confusion. Just Emily. So yes, definitely better than before.

Just as Emily and her moped turned the corner and went out of sight, Naomi blinked.

"Oh my god," she blurted out to the empty room. "I'm actually processing this!"

Gina Campbell stopped in the hallway outside of Naomi (and Emily)'s bedroom and started laughing.

"Oh Naomi," Gina said between chuckles as her daughter glared at her, "you haven't stopped processing since you met Emily. Quit glaring like that. The fact that you're just realizing this now is quite funny. Come downstairs and help with dinner?"

Naomi huffed but jumped off the windowsill and took the basket of laundry from her mother. Gina had shown up sometime last week with Keiran in tow, bringing with her a tornado of smiles and hugs and stories of Ireland. She knew immediately that something had happened, though, and sat Naomi down that very night to get the story out of her.

Naomi had talked, and cried, and talked some more, while Gina listened patiently. And when the younger blond had run out of words and tears she had gathered her daughter up in her arms and said how proud she was of her.

"Proud?" Naomi had said. "How can you possibly be proud of me? It was the very best thing in my life and I screwed it up until I almost couldn't fix it again."

Gina had stroked back Naomi's hair and laughed. "But you did fix it. You figured out exactly how you felt and knew exactly what you had to do and you wanted it enough, you wanted Emily enough, to stop being afraid and fix it. And you did it all on your own. That's why I'm proud of you, my love."

(Emily, who had been eavesdropping shamelessly from the kitchen, had been quite proud of it too and had shown Naomi just how proud she was later on that night.)

Gina had also, completely without question, accepted the fact that Emily more or less lived in their house nowadays. The older Campbell hadn't even batted on eyelash when she woke up the first morning she had been back and Emily had been standing in the kitchen wearing pajama pants a size too big and one of Naomi's shirts, happily making breakfast. She had just shrugged, kissed Emily brightly on the cheek, and sat down to read the paper.

So while Naomi pretended to grumble when Gina wanted her to help with dinner it was really just to keep up her image. She was fully aware that she had the best mother in the history of Britain.

She followed Gina down into the kitchen where Keiran was attempting to wash dishes and watch the football game at the same time. He was mostly succeeding, but every once in a while someone would score and he would cheer and throw his hands up in the air which in turn splattered suds on the cabinets and countertop.

"Stop," Naomi ordered. She put down the basket and nudged him out of the way. "You're making it worse you great lug."

Keiran chuckled sheepishly and ran a hand over his beard, getting soap suds caught in the hair there. "You're supposed to respect your elders," he said mock-sternly.

Naomi snorted. "When I see an elder around here I'll be sure to respect them," she said sarcastically.

"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not," Kieran grumbled.

Gina paused in the act of getting vegetables out of the refrigerator and scrunched up her face in confusion, obviously thinking carefully over Naomi's sentence. "It might actually have been a pleasant remark," she conceded.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "I do give out compliments on occasion," she said dryly.

The vegetables made thumping noises on the counter as Gina dropped them dramatically and grabbed at her chest. "Be still, my heart," she said. "My daughter is actually being sociable. Dear God, what in the world has Emily done to you."

Naomi flushed as her mind conjured up several different mental images in response to that sentence. Gina noticed and started laughing hysterically; thus began an entire dinner where Gina purposefully kept trying to make Naomi blush as many different shades of red as possible.

By the end Naomi wasn't sure if she still thought she had the best mum in Britain.

"My phone is ringing," she announced loudly when she was finished, interrupting Gina in the middle of a story about catching Naomi and Emily snogging in the front hall in the middle of the night once (What? It had been just after they got together and Naomi had been drunk and Emily had looked seriously hot in that dress. A girl can only keep so much control.)

It was a nice escape tactic but her phone actually was ringing and she had left it up on her nightstand, so she ignored her mum's annoyed shouts and took the stairs two at a time to get to it. She made it just in time for her phone to stop ringing and beep it's 'you missed a call! you missed a call!' beep. The mobile was silent for half a second before it started ringing again.

Naomi frowned and checked the caller ID. **BITCH** blinked up at her as the phone rang. She ran several scenarios through her head for why Katie Fitch would be blowing up her mobile. A complete personality switch was a possibility but unlikely. The Apocalypse sprang to mind but was reluctantly discarded because she could clearly see out the window and the sky wasn't blood-red, although it was starting to get purple as the sun set.

All of this speculation nearly made her forget that her phone was ringing. She hurriedly pressed the answer button before any more time went by. She was already positive that Katie had enough saved-up insults to last for days.

"If you're calling to yell at me about Emily coming over tonight can it wait until tomorrow morning?" She asked the minute she picked up the phone. Sometimes it was important to cut Katie off at the source of her anger.

"Oh thank God, Naomi," Katie screeched in her ear. "It took you fucking ages."

Naomi held the phone a little away from her ear to protect herself from the ear-splitting sound that is Katie Fitch at full volume and she was about to retort with a cutting insult about Katie's patience level when she stopped. Katie hadn't called her Campbell or bitch or lezza or any other name out of the plethora of lovely insults that Katie keeps on command especially for Naomi. She'd actually called her Naomi and that was...disturbing.

She frowned at her phone and brought it back to her ear. "Well I'm sorry but normal people are usually eating dinner around this-"

"There's been an accident."

The world stopped spinning, Naomi was sure of it. It couldn't possibly keep turning and moving as normal when four words had just crushed Naomi's heart. There was no possible way that everyone else's world was continuing on when Naomi's had just split up the seams. She didn't have to ask Katie who had been in an accident, because there was no reason that the older twin would be calling Naomi Campbell if it wasn't about Emily.

"What?" Her voice cracked and she started to have trouble breathing. A tight grip on the nightstand was the only thing keeping her upright and that might not keep working for long. "I mean...what? Emily?" _My Emily?_

"That sodding moped, you know?" Katie's voice was cracking too. "Something about a kid in the road? We're at the hospital closest to your house if-"

"I'm on my way," Naomi snapped and she hung up before Katie could get another word out.

If there was a world record for how fast someone can run down a flight of stairs, Naomi broke it. She skidded into the kitchen and complete bypassed her Mum cleaning up the remains of dinner.

"Naomi!" her mum snapped when the teenager ripped one of the drawers out of the countertop and simply upended it, spilling all the keys and assorted odds and ends inside it onto the kitchen floor. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

Naomi completely ignored her in favor of sifting through the mess on the floor for a particular set of keys. "Fucking hell! Can't fucking Keiran keep his fucking keys in one fucking place?" she half-screamed in frustration.

Gina's irritation morphed into concern. She knelt down and grabbed Naomi's hands to stop her from tossing things all over the kitchen. "Well," she said softly, "that certainly illustrates the diversity of the word. What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"I need Keiran's car," Naomi growled. She tried to tug her hands out of her mother's grip and failed. Now was not the time for her mum to be calm and caring, everyone should be just as freaked out and upset as she was right now and the fact that Gina could just sit there and smile made her want to kick something. It was absurd, it was ridiculous. The whole world should be reacting the way she was because a world without Emily Fitch in it was actually unthinkable and she was pretty sure if it ever came about it would be the start of the next Ice Age. She pulled harder and her mum let go so that she could get back to pushing can openers and other assorted crap around the room with increasing desperation. "Katie called and Emily crashed her moped," she picked up an old checkbook and tossed it viciously into a corner, her voice getting higher and more panicky with each word, "so I have to get over there because if something happens to Emily I'm going to actually die and -"

"Stop," Gina grabbed her around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug to head off the oncoming panic attack. "Just stop for a minute. Now I've met Katie and I'm sure she's a lovely girl-"

Naomi snorted.

"-deep down inside, but do you think that if something was seriously wrong with Emily that she would have picked up the phone to call you?"

Naomi paused in the middle of her panic and allowed her body to sink further into her mother's hug. Because, well, no. If something really, really bad had happened to Emily then Katie would be beside herself. She wouldn't leave her sister's side, especially not to phone Emily's hotheaded girlfriend who she didn't even especially get along with.

She sniffled back tears and let her mum continued to hold her for a few seconds before she pulled back. She closed her eyes and rubbed at her eyelids until she was sure that there was no moisture whatsoever, and then she pulled herself together.

"Good," Gina nodded. She leaned down and picked up Keiran's keys from where they were sitting directly between Naomi's feet. "I'm driving then. Keiran, I'm taking Naomi out!" she called into the living room. They got a grunt and a wave for a response.

Naomi snatched her coat off the hanger and ran out to the car. On the drive there she was almost glad she hadn't driven, because she was pretty sure that getting into a car accident while going to visit your girlfriend in the hospital was counter-productive on a number of levels. Her mum, bless her soul, didn't make even one snide remark about Naomi's complete inability to sit still for more than two seconds in the car and, when they got to the hospital, simply pulled up outside the entrance so that Naomi didn't have to park with her.

"Thanks," Naomi breathed as she bolted out of the car and through the doors. The very first thing she noticed was a scantily clad girl with dark hair bent over trying to get a soda out of a machine. She was flashing pretty much everybody and she was wearing leopard print, so it was probably Katie. She had an automatically annoyed expression when Naomi ran up to her so, yup, definitely Katie.

"Finally," Katie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "What did you do walk here?"

Naomi sternly reminded herself that Emily would be very upset if she hit her sister. "My mum had to drive me," she said tightly. "Is she all right? Where is she?"

"She's fine. Well," Katie corrected herself, "she's not fine. She swerved to avoid hitting some stupid kid in the middle of the road and completely wiped out on her moped. A bit banged up but she was wearing her helmet so at least she wasn't being a completely stupid cunt. Rattled her head a bit but she's still in love with you so her brain isn't any more messed up than it already was. She's up in 319 - HEY! I was in the middle of a sentence, bitch!"

Even if Naomi hadn't already perfected the art of ignoring Katie Fitch it wouldn't matter, because she was halfway towards the stairs before the ending of 'three-nineteen' finished coming out of Katie's mouth. If she had simply broke the record for fastest stair travel before this time she shattered it, making it up two flights in record time and miraculously not bowling over anyone in the process. She only had to turn two corners before the patient rooms were in the 310s and she practically ran down a poor nurse getting to 319.

The moment she stopped in the doorway all of the tension just drained from her body. Logically she knew that Katie had already told her Emily was fine, but seeing her was a whole different story. Because there she was, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed and kicking her feet back and forth, happy as a clam (although Naomi was sure this a lot to do with the painkillers they had undoubtedly already given her). Her jeans were a little torn, her wrist was in a splint, and there were some bandages on her arms and one just over her eyebrow but besides that she was fine. She looked up and grinned a big, slightly loopy grin when she saw Naomi in the doorway.

"Hi!" she said brightly.

Naomi half-laughed, half-choked and lurched forward. She grabbed Emily as gently and fervently as she could and simply started showering kisses all over her face. She climbed up next to Emily on the bed and she brushed back bits of bright red hair, tucking them tenderly away from Emily's face. Several warm kisses went directly on the bandage on Emily's forehead. For her part Emily just sat there and basked in the loving attention she was getting.

"Excuse me, only family can be up here," an unwelcome voice interrupted them. A nurse glared at them sternly from the doorway.

Naomi glared back because at this point an entire army of sour, glaring nurses could not move her from this spot. Thankfully for the continued health of the nurse in the doorway a savior came in the form of Katie Fitch, who appeared quite suddenly (actually had she been taking lessons from Effy because that was very smooth) and matched both of them glare for glare.

The older twin looked at the two of them for a moment before sighing and rolling her eyes. "She is family. She's our cousin," she told the nurse. The nurse looked incredulous. Katie's eyes flicked back over to where Emily was wrapped up very securely in Naomi's arms and she added, "We're very affectionate."

The nurse looked even more skeptical and Katie upped the ante on her glare and put a hand on her hip. The look the brunette twin was sending out very clearly said Don't mess with me on this one, bitch, and the nurse eventually gave up and walked away in a huff because there was no way she could actually prove that Naomi wasn't who Katie said she was.

Naomi instantly turned back around and buried her face in Emily's shoulder, breathing in very deeply the scent of sun and grass and Emily. She had no idea how the redhead could perpetually smell like the best kind of summer day but it didn't matter because it was familiar and just one more reassuring reminder of Emily's presence. Emily giggled and placed a happy kiss on the top of Naomi's head.

"You're very cuddly today," she said cheerfully.

"You scared the crap out of me," Naomi whispered into her shirt. Her grip on the redhead tightened until Emily squeaked. "Sorry!" she apologized. She sat up straight and started to let go.

Emily grabbed her arms to keep them in place and snuggled back in. This time it was Emily who buried her face in Naomi's shoulder and she nuzzled the skin there. "No, I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was still a little loopy but mostly sober. "I love you."

Naomi kissed her forehead again. "I love you, too."

"Oh my god stop, you're both making me want to vomit."

Naomi looked up at Katie, who was still leaning against the doorway and watching them, and narrowed her eyes. "You were purposefully vague on the phone so that I would panic, weren't you?" she accused.

Katie's smirk widened. "Naomi, I'm hurt. Do you honestly believe I would do something like that?"

"Yes."

"Play nice," Emily said sleepily from where she was happily curled up in the circle of Naomi's arms.

Katie stuck her tongue out at her sister before she answered Naomi. "Well, you're right. But I'm still hurt. I don't always look for opportunities to make your life miserable you know."

Naomi smiled, then. An actual smile and not a smirk or a sneer. "Right. You didn't have to back me up with the nurse just now. So thank you for that, I suppose."

"Yeah, well," Katie looked down at her soda and swirled it thoughtfully. "Don't think I like you now or something. I would have been well funny if she kicked you out but Ems would have thrown a right fit, yeah? It's not like we're Twister pals or nothing."

Naomi's smile grew. "Duly noted, Katiekins."

"Whatever, Campbell."

Emily started giggling and Naomi looked down, raising her eyebrows. "Something funny?" she asked the laughing redhead in her arms.

"You two love each other," Emily said between giggles.

"What?"

"I do not!"

"That's complete rubbish!"

"I could never love someone with such horrible fashion sense."

But Emily just kept laughing and shaking her head. "You love each other and that's you show it, by insulting each other."

Naomi and Katie exchanged the same kind of indulgent smile over Emily's head. Maybe they had some affection for each other. A tiny bit. Minuscule. Like if you looked under a microscope maybe you would see miniature versions of themselves being cordial. But they both loved Emily with all of their hearts, so maybe Em was right, maybe they could never truly hate each other. They understood each other too well for that.

* * *

_Present Day_

Naomi skidded to a stop in front of the nurse's stand. "Mia Fitch-Campbell?" she asked when the nurse looked up at her questioningly. "I think she might have broken -"

"Naoms!"

She looked up to see Emily waving from one of those little curtained-off sections they have in emergency rooms.

"Never mind," she said hurriedly to the nurse. "Thanks anyway." She walked away quickly before the nurse could say anything and almost ran over to her wife.

Mia was sitting on the hospital bed, kicking her legs back and forth and humming cheerfully. One arm was all up in a cast and sling but she looked up happily when Naomi walked around the curtain.

"Hi!" she said, and waved with her good hand.

Naomi breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to kiss her daughter gently on the forehead. The little girl was easy enough to pick up so Naomi did so, sitting down on the hospital bed instead and holding Mia in her lap. "What happened?" she asked Emily.

It was Cook, sitting in the chair in the corner with a guilty look on his face, that answered.

"Took her sledding," he said sheepishly. Even his voice was quiet, like he was afraid at any moment Naomi was going to reach deep into the place where she kept her maternal instincts and just kill him. "I swear Naomikins, I was waiting at the bottom to catch her! But the sled must've hit a rock or something 'cause she tipped halfway down."  
Emily leaned over and kissed Naomi gently on the cheek. She brushed a bit of hair out of Mia's face and smiled at both of them. "It wasn't his fault, Naoms. Accidents happen."

"Uncle Cook was really fast when he ran over and picked me up!" Mia added helpfully.

Naomi smiled at Cook to show him she wasn't mad and he relaxed, and Naomi let herself relax too. When she got the call that Cook had run Mia to the emergency room her entire stomach had dropped down to the general vicinity of her feet and stayed there. She had told her boss she was leaving early (told, hadn't asked, because there was no way she was taking no for an answer) and rushed over. Logically she knew it was just a broken wrist but her heart didn't start beating normally again until she saw that Mia was all in one piece.

Her eyes met Emily's and she wondered if they were both thinking the same thing. If thoughts of another accident and another hospital room were flashing through the redhead's mind too. Emily's gentle, loving smile told her they were. She grinned right back.

Mia squirmed around in her arms so that she could hug Naomi tightly with her good arm. "Do I get ice cream?" she asked.

Naomi laughed. "It's absolutely freezing outside! What kind of person wants ice cream in the middle of winter?"

"Please?"

Emily and Cook started laughing too as Mia gave Naomi such a pitiful pout that she melted instantly. "Fine, fine," she conceded. "Ice cream it is."

"God, Naoms, you're such a pushover," Emily teased.

"Guess this means you don't want ice cream," Naomi shot back.

Cook laughed uproariously, but quieted down when a nurse glared at him as she walked by. "Sorry," he explained between guffaws, "but the look on Emilio's face was priceless."

Emily placed a hand on her extended stomach and glared half-heartedly at her wife. "I cannot believe that you were about to deny your pregnant wife ice cream. I'm eating for two, you know."

"He's craving ice cream?"

"I'm craving ice cream. He'll just have to deal with it."

"Naomi," Mia interrupted. "Do we get to go now?"

"Yeah, come on little bird." Naomi stood up with Mia still held firmly in her arms, although the six-year-old was getting a little too big for that kind of treatment. "Let's go get some ice cream."


	10. Give Me Your Approval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naomi meets the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

_December (Winter Break in Bristol, the girls' second year of Uni)_

Naomi ripped off her jacket and threw it into the corner of her room, quickly replacing it with a cardigan that she also ripped off and tossed behind her. She stared at herself in the mirror for about ten seconds before tipping her head back and yelling at the ceiling in frustration.

"I'm going to die!"

"I think that would upset Emily."

She scowled at the ceiling even though it hadn't been the one to answer her. "I'm being serious."

"So am I," the person on her bed responded solemnly. "I don't think Emily would appreciate her girlfriend dropping dead two hours before the Fitch family holiday party. Also, I'm pretty sure she likes you the way you are."

Naomi stopped looking at the ceiling in favor of turning around to glare at the girl sitting on her bed. "You're not helping, Effy. I'm actually freaking out about this and you're not fucking helping. What are you doing?"

Effy didn't even look up from her phone. "I'm texting Emily," she said simply. "Because if I have to deal with you flipping your shit over not being able to find something to wear then so does she. At least she gets sex out of it."

"Not," Naomi reiterated angrily, "fucking helping." She quickly took two steps over to the bed nudged the phone out of Effy's hand. Okay, not nudged. It was more of a smacking motion. Effy glared at her but Naomi just shook her head. "And don't bother Emily, all right? She's got enough to worry about tonight."

"Like what?" Effy asked, raising one perfect eyebrow. "She's been to a million of these parties. What does she possibly have to worry about, besides her girlfriend showing up dressed in nothing because she can't find the right outfit?"

Naomi resisted the urge to glare at Effy some more. She resisted it mightily. Glaring at Effy, no matter how much it made her feel better, was not actually helping anything.

"She has to worry about everything," she said shortly. She turned away from Effy and started rummaging through the discarded clothes on her floor. There had to be something that didn't look like complete shite. "You know the kind of history she has with her mother. I mean, obviously the whole family already knows she gay, but this is the first time they're meeting me. Last night Katie mentioned that the anticipation is high. Apparently the whole clan is dying to meet the force that tore the Fitches apart for a bit."

"Why do I feel like that is a direct quote?"

"Because it is."

Effy made a very un-ladylike snorting sound. "Typical Katie. She actually called you 'the force that tore the Fitches apart'?"

Naomi smirked as she discarded another shirt for not being perfect. "Never let it be said that Katie Fitch is anything other than dramatic. Fucking cocking shitting hell, this is bloody ridiculous is what this is! I have absolutely nothing to wear!"

"You have lots of things to wear. They're just currently all over your floor, and your dresser, and the back of your chair..." Effy trailed off when Naomi glared at her so fiercely it was a miracle the brunette girl didn't burst into flames on the spot. "Right, still not helping." She got up and started to rummage around in Naomi's closet to get away from the death glare the blonde was sending her way. "Quit being so nervous, will you? Emily has already met your family so this can't possibly be that different."

Naomi ignored the fact that she was still topless and started to do her hair and makeup instead. "This is entirely different," she said, her voice clipped and nervous-sounding even to the ears of someone unpracticed in the art of determining whether Naomi Campbell was scared or not. "That involved having dinner with my Mum and Keiran. Not exactly something she hadn't done before. And she already knew them both anyway."

Effy popped back out of the closet momentarily. "When did Emily meet Gina before the dinner?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"The first night she slept over," Naomi said vaguely, more concentrated on adding eyeliner than anything else. "They met in the hall in the morning."

Now Effy was fully out of the closet, which Naomi most definitely would have made a joke about if she wasn't so distracted. Both eyebrows were raised in perfect tandem.

"When did Emily sleep over?" she asked suggestively.

Naomi flushed and paused her application of makeup long enough to make a face at Effy. "Don't give me that look, Elizabeth Stonem. She came over to help with the student body presidential election and she wound up drinking too much and staying the night. Nothing happened." She coughed uncomfortably when Effy's eyebrows inched up just a little bit higher. "That night."

"I'm going to overlook the fact that she came over to help with the election and you wound up drinking," Effy said blandly.

"Thank you ever so," Naomi shot back in the same tone.

"Although," Effy snickered as she turned around and started rummaging in the closet again. "I guess that explains the campaign posters."

"Hey!" Naomi threw a discarded shoe at Effy. She had to throw with her left hand and she missed by a large margin but it was the thought that counted. "Emily worked very hard on those."

She watched as Effy's arm popped back out, made a vague 'yeah, whatever' motion, and disappeared again.

"Anyway," Naomi continued the conversation like Effy's first interruption hadn't happened. "That's about the extent of my family she had to meet. I'm going to the Fitch Family Holiday Party. That means aunts and uncles and cousins and," she paused for dramatic effect, "grandparents. More specifically Emily's grandparents on her mom's side."  
Effy popped back into the room with an armful of clothes from Naomi's closet and set them on the bed. "They can't be that bad," she said as she started to sort them out into different outfits.

"These are the people that raised Jenna Fitch."

There was a long pause before Effy nodded. "Good point."

Naomi finished applying eyeliner to one eye and moved to the other. "Katie said that Grandma Malone has never, not once not ever, no ifs-ans-or-buts about it, approved of any partner that any family member has brought to the holiday party. Ever."

"That's bollocks," Effy scoffed. "She had to approve of the people that some of them got married to."

"True," Naomi conceded. She finished with her eyes and ran a hand over her artfully messy bun, making sure that just enough curls were falling out of it to look intentional instead of sloppy. "But I'm under the impression that the current spouses in the family only went to a holiday party after the wedding."

Effy whistled. "Tough crowd, then. How much do you really love Emily?" The question was asked lightly, but Naomi answered it seriously anyway.

"Enough that I'm working myself into a nervous wreck over not being good enough," she said. She turned around and her big blue eyes were pleading when they caught Effy's. "She's my one true love, Eff. I know she loves me to bits and pieces and that's why I want to get the family's approval. So she doesn't feel like she has to choose between me and her family. And I'm willing to go up against an older, probably more stuck-up and bigoted version of Jenna Fitch to get that approval."

"You are a brave soul, Naomi Campbell," Effy teased. She held up a soft light-green blouse to Naomi's torso. "You know, green is very much your color. Try it on."

She pulled it on over her head and waited for the fabric to settle. It wasn't a blouse she recalled owning but it was light and airy, made of some kind of wonderfully loose meshy material that almost made it look like it was floating. She quickly tugged on the white skirt and jacket that Effy handed over. Effy sat her down and did her eyeshadow then, only letting Naomi see the finished product.

They both stared at the blonde in the mirror. Finally Effy broke out into a mischievous smirk. "Perfect," she said. "Half the family will fall in love with you the minute you walk through the door. Emily might fall in love with you all over again. Hell, I'm a little in love with you right now."

Naomi elbowed her friend sharply in the ribs, but she couldn't deny that the outfit was spot-on what she had been looking for. She was tugging on the hem of the shirt and trying to recall when she had bought it when she noticed the bag sticking out slightly from underneath her bed.

"Effy," she said warningly, "you didn't."

Effy's smirk just grew. "I thought you might have trouble like this," was all she said. "Let's just say you owe me, all right Naoms?"

Naomi sighed and pushed down her argument. She turned and hugged Effy tightly instead. The brunette was startled for a second, because Naomi usually wasn't the touchy-feely kind of friend, but she hugged back readily enough after a moment.

"Thank you," Naomi said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Effy mumbled into her shirt. Then she shoved the blonde away and Naomi had to dodge a smack to her shoulder. "Now go knock 'em dead."

Naomi Campbell was a lot of things. Smart as a whip, sarcastic, loyal to a fault, full to the brim with love and, if you dig down deep enough, she could be impossibly sweet. But just at that moment she was a coward. Golden light spilled across the snow from the window that looked into the Fitch living room and it was packed with people, some of them with Rob Fitch's broad smiles and some of them with Jenna Fitch's narrow bone structure but all of them together and smiling and having a good time. And Naomi stood out in the cold, shivering a little in her skirt and jacket, her finger hovering just over the doorbell.

It struck her, as she pulled her hand back and bit nervously at her fingernail, that this was almost an exact imitation of some many years ago when she had rejected Emily's invitation to the Love Ball. She had come to the Fitch's house then, too (not the same house obviously since they had since lost that one and, when Rob got control of his gyms back and Jenna's wedding business took off, bought this slightly bigger one instead). And she had stood on the doorstop and tried to talk herself into ringing the doorbell then too.

Except now Emily was actually her girlfriend, and now she knew the kind of people she was dealing with. Yeah, that didn't make it better at all.

Her hand darted out and she quickly rang the bell before her courage left her completely. The door swung open within seconds and, thank god, it was a familiar face. Even if it wasn't the exact familiar face she was looking for.

"Naomi! Looking fucking mint as always, babe. Sure you can't swing for this Fitch instead?"

"Fuck off, perve," she told the boy in the door affectionately. She barely had to reach down when she ruffled his hair affectionately, because James Fitch was fifteen now and had definitely started to hit his growth spurt.

He whacked her hands away and shifted slightly so he could bellow into the living room, "EMILY! NAOMI'S HERE!"

The noise in the living room dropped at least to a dull roar as this information filtered its way through the assorted Fitches and Malones that now inhabited the living room. Within thirty seconds there was not a soul in the house that didn't know that little Emily's infamous girlfriend had arrived.

Including, thankfully, Emily herself. The redhead showed up in the front hall mere seconds later, but stopped dead when she saw Naomi.

A red flush started to creep up the redhead's neck as dark brown eyes slowly dragged all the way up Naomi's body before they hit her eyes. "Wow," Emily after a few moments of stunned silence. "Green is definitely your color."

Naomi smiled through her nerves, vaguely proud of the effect she had on her girlfriend. "That's what Effy said too," she confided. "I look okay?"

Emily's smile could have lit up the entire town. "More than okay," she said lovingly, "you look amazing." She finally closed the distance between them and grabbed Naomi's hand, and the blonde allowed herself a moment to relish the familiar rush of warmth that shot through her body whenever Emily touched her.

She allowed herself to be led upstairs where everyone seemed to be leaving their coats in the twins' room. She was all ready to just throw her coat on Emily's bed and head back downstairs but Emily closed the door firmly and whirled on her, sliding her hands around Naomi's neck and bringing their lips crashing together.

Never one to turn down a snogging session with Emily, especially if it meant not having to face the horde downstairs for just that much longer, Naomi looped her arms around Emily's back and pulled the redhead flush against her. She hadn't told Emily how utterly kissable the little redhead looked in her navy blue polo and pleated skirt, with her red hair all pulled back in a ponytail, but she was telling her now when she pulled away and started to kiss gently along Emily's jawline.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Emily said weakly, but her resistance was shaky and melted away the moment Naomi gently tugged on her earlobe with her teeth.

"You started it," Naomi whispered in her ear, dropping her voice lower in a way that she knew made Emily weak at the knees.

Emily breathed out shakily against Naomi's neck and seemed to seriously consider the pros and cons of simply throwing her girlfriend on the bed and ravishing her to within an inch of her life. Naomi actually wouldn't have minded that plan at all at the moment, but family obligations seemed to win out. Emily pulled back and they both exchanged the same look of aggravated disappointment.

They performed a quick makeup and hair check on each other (something that had become second nature during college and the often-impromptu snogging that took place in the bathrooms) and exited the bedroom just as Katie was leaving the upstairs bathroom.

The older twin started to roll her eyes at them but stopped and widened them instead when she got a good look at Naomi. "Wow, Campbell, you don't look like shit."

This was the closest she'd ever get to a compliment from Katie Fitch. "Thanks, Katie. You're not looking horrible tonight either."

Katie sniffed and straightened her top haughtily. "Fuck you, lezza. I look awesome."

Naomi and Emily just looked at each other, but their laughter was cut short when Katie smirked at them and said, "Em, Mum says you should start introducing Naomi around."  
Instantly the grip Naomi had on Emily's hand tightened. Emily's eyes shot over to her girlfriend and she squeezed back comfortingly. Katie led the way downstairs and when they got to the bottom Emily let go. Naomi almost panicked again but Emily just turned around and cupped Naomi's face with both hands.

"I love you," she said in such a low voice that if they weren't so close together Naomi wouldn't have been able to hear it. "Which means they'll love you. I promise, all right?"

Naomi nodded shakily and Emily leaned forward to quickly press a kiss to Naomi's cheek. Naomi knew why she didn't go for a lip-lock and it was probably a smart idea. They still couldn't quite control themselves and getting caught in a heated kiss was not the best way to meet your girlfriend's family. Not that Naomi had much experience in the matter.

"Besides, I'll be by your side the whole night. And if I'm not, Katie will be."

"Oh that's comforting," Naomi said sarcastically. She reigned in the sarcasm when Emily gave her a stern look and sighed. "Sorry, I'll behave. But," she paused because the next sentence felt kind of foolish to say. She held up her hand, fingers splayed out invitingly. "The whole night, right?"

Emily gave her another one of those smiles she seemed to reserve just for Naomi; the kind of smile that made the sun look dim in comparison. She threaded her fingers firmly through Naomi's and held on tight. "The whole night," she promised, and squeezed for good measure.

Naomi found comfort in the warmth and weight of Emily's hand in hers and she nodded. "Let's do this, then, shall we?"

The twins led the way into the fray and Naomi prepared herself for the bombardment.

* * *

It actually wasn't all that bad. Effy was right when she said that half the room would fall in immediate love with her the moment she stepped in the door, but Effy was right about most things in life so that shouldn't have come as a surprise. Not everyone in the room was as obnoxiously boisterous as Rob Fitch or as stuck-up as Jenna, but usually a generous mixture of the two. The female cousins were friendly, maybe a little stand-offish but Naomi felt like that had more to do with them being the kind of 'health-and-beauty' students that Naomi had absolutely despised at Roundview (the kind that always wore matching outfits to school and accessorized their footwear with their nonexistent brains) then because they were actively trying to be bitches. The male cousins ranged from aggressively appreciative (the single ones) to mellow and actually rather pleasant (the married ones).

The latter and their spouses were the easiest to talk to throughout the whole night. The former had been glared into submission by Emily (and Naomi was almost positive she heard Katie hissing and smacking James and that whole group of younger cousins into submission at one point during the night, although whether that was directly related to Naomi was up for debate). One in particular was a little drunk and a little handsy and a lot stupid, because he didn't seem to notice that as he blatantly hit on her and invaded her personal space that Emily looked ready to kneecap him, or rip his bollocks off, or maybe do both just for good measure. Thankfully for him Katie Fitch showed up like a superhero in a leopard-print power suit and whisked him away before Emily could act out her violent tendencies.

Rob Fitch had three brothers and they were all cut from the same mold as him: loud, boisterous, with very large, slightly scary smiles but warm and welcoming attitudes. Grandma Fitch was one of those Molly Weasley-type older women who would hug you as soon as look at you and Grandpa Fitch didn't exactly welcome her, but he did give her a nod of respect and lifted his whiskey glass in salute when she was introduced so that was something.

She had clung to Emily's hand like a life-line the entire night, and to her everlasting credit the redhead did not utter one single word of complaint. Although with every family member that didn't completely freak out and call her names and scream at her about corrupting poor little Emily (which Jenna was known to do on more than one occasion) she relaxed just that little bit more.

Except for right now. Because right now she had met everybody except Emily's maternal grandparents and to say that Naomi was completely terrified of the idea of facing Jenna Fitch's parents was an understatement of epic proportions.

"So," Emily said a little too brightly as she dragged Naomi over to the corner of the living room closest to the tree, "Naoms this is my Grandma and Grandpa Malone. Gran, Pop-pop, this is my girlfriend Naomi."

Naomi held out her right hand, the one that wasn't clutching so tightly to Emily that she was sure the redhead had lost circulation some time ago, and smiled her most charming smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs. Malone," she said politely.

Grandpa Malone grunted. "Well at least she's got manners on her," he said roughly. And if his handshake was a little tighter than what was comfortable, well, Naomi wouldn't complain if that was all the reaction he had. Until he pulled the next little stunt that he did, and then Naomi decided she didn't like him at all. "Emsy sweetheart, why don't you show your Pop where Katie is, I've got some presents for both of you."

No lie, Naomi panicked. It was obvious that Emily couldn't refuse her grandfather and that would leave Naomi here, with the woman who was standing in front of the tree and staring Naomi down so hard she very much wished the earth would open up and swallow her already. Emily squeezed her hand extra tight before letting go and leading her grandfather away, shooting apologetic glances over his shoulder until they were lost in the crowd, and Naomi felt like a refugee on the Titanic who had just gotten their lifeboat ripped away.

"So," Grandma Malone said. She tapped her fingers on the mantelpiece and Naomi tried not to look at all the convenient weapons that the older woman had on hand.

Actually, now that Naomi was getting an extended look and not just a terrified glance from across the room, the woman looked a bit like Emily. Her hair was pulled back and looked like it had been dark at one point but was now too liberally streaked with silver to really tell. Her face was creased with wrinkles and not in an entirely bad way. It was mildly disconcerting but they both had the same build and while Emily's face was more like her father it became strikingly clear to Naomi that those wonderful, warm brown eyes that she loved looking into were actually a copy of the same eyes that the woman in front of her possessed. But these eyes were not warm and did not make her feel loved and cherished at all. Oh, no indeed.

"Yes, ma'am?" she prompted when the woman continued to look at her. She was actually proud that her voice came out as strong and clear as it did, because she would like nothing better at this moment than to turn tail and run in the opposite direction. But Emily's voice floated in her memories, whispering to be brave, and so she stood her ground.

"So, you're the disgraceful young woman that my daughter insists has corrupted our Emily," Grandma Malone said in a flat voice. It wasn't angry or irritated or cold, just even and measured. Like she wasn't sure exactly which tone of voice she was going to use on Naomi just yet.

Naomi cleared her throat and steeled her courage. "Actually," she said lightly, "I'm pretty sure it was Emily who did most of the corrupting."

For just a moment, she could have sworn she saw amusement dancing in those emotionless brown eyes before they went blank again. Grandma Malone's lips stayed pressed together in a thin line. "Hmph," she huffed. "Well, I'd be lying if I said that doesn't sound like exactly like Emily. And I am a lot of things, girl, but I am not a liar."

"I didn't think you were," Naomi quickly agreed.

Grandma Malone nodded. "Good. Which means you won't be lying to me tonight, will you?"

It wasn't a question, but a threat. Naomi shook her head and then stopped and nodded, confused about the right response. She settled on, "No, ma'am, I won't."

"Good," Grandma Malone repeated. "Now where do you go to school, Naomi?"

Naomi's shoulders relaxed marginally. An inquisition, though annoying, was something she could handle, and was much better than not knowing what the older woman was going to throw at her. "I'm at Goldsmiths at the moment, ma'am," she said respectfully.

"Studying what?"

"Journalism, with a minor in political science. I thought about double-majoring," she added a little vainly, "but that's not generally recommended."

Grandma Malone nodded, but that was all the indication that she was even listening to the words that came out of Naomi's mouth. "And what kind of exam results did you get at Roundview? How exactly are you paying to attend a school like Goldsmiths?"

Naomi stood up straighter because this, this was something she was sure of. She was proud of the work that she put into school and she wasn't afraid to show it. "Three A's, ma'am, a partial-ride plus scholarships and a job for a local paper on the side."

"Hardworking. Well, all that goes directly against when Jenna called you a lazy, good-for-nothing idiot," Grandma Malone said, still with that even and expressionless voice.

Naomi didn't even pretend to be surprised that Jenna Fitch had used those words to describe her. The woman had certainly called her far worse things in the past, and probably would again in the future.

"Now," Grandma Malone's face twitched and her mouth curled up ever-so-slightly, "what in the world makes you think you're good enough for my granddaughter?"

"Gran!" Like a beacon in the night, Emily's voice cut across both of them as she materialized out of the crowd and grabbed Naomi's hand again. "Stop!"

Naomi looked at her and squeezed her hand lightly. "No, it's okay Em."

Grandma Malone was on that like a shot. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Naomi's face and the smirk disappeared. "Interesting," she said flatly. "Why do you say that? You certainly didn't seem to be particularly enjoying our little chat."

Naomi debated her answer for half a minute before she replied. She decided that the only card she had to play was honesty, so she may as well just play it. "You're asking these questions because you love Emily and you want to make sure I'm the right kind of person for her," she answered with a calm she did not feel in the slightest, "even if you don't believe that I am the right kind of person. And Emily fu-" she cut herself off when Emily kicked her in the ankle and changed the second half of that word "-reaking adores you. Your approval means so much to her and if I have to sit through a hundred questions to get that approval I will, because it would make her happy."

If it was possible Grandma Malone's eyes narrowed further. Then, very slowly, the smirk crept back into place. "Young lady," she said, and it could have been Naomi's hopeful ears playing tricks on her but it was possible the woman's voice was a bit lighter, "I have asked a lot of young men these questions. I have asked them for my daughters and my granddaughters and my nieces, and not one of them has ever answered as eloquently as you just did without trying. Journalism, you said?"

Naomi nodded, a little dumbfounded. "Yes ma'am, journalism."

"And what do you think about Emily wanting to be a teacher?" the older woman asked quickly.

"I think whatever Emily wants to do is her choice and that whatever she chooses is perfect," Naomi fired back just as quickly, not thrown in the slightest. Emily squeezed her hand encouragingly.

"Hmph," Grandma Malone huffed again. She looked Naomi up and down and then patted the pocket of her jacket. "Do you smoke, Naomi?"

Naomi resisted the urge to look at Emily because she was very unsure what the correct answer to that question was, but eventually she nodded. "A bit," she admitted.

"Good. Come have a smoke, then."

It wasn't a suggestion. Naomi quickly disentangled her hand from Emily's and followed the intimating matron out onto the Fitch's empty back porch. When the door snapped shut it muffled the sound of the party almost completely and Naomi had the sudden crazy thought that if she were to scream out here probably no one would come help her. She quickly pushed the thought down as ridiculous, but then again this was the woman whose genes produced both Jenna and Katie Fitch.

Thankfully all the woman did was light up and offer Naomi her lighter. The two smoked in silence for a moment before Grandma Malone spoke up.

"You're quite beautiful, you know?" was what she said.

Naomi honestly choked on the smoke she had just inhaled because of all of the plethora of things she had been expecting to come out of that woman's mouth, those words had not even made an appearance. Thankfully it didn't seem to require a response because the woman just continued on.

"Obviously you're very smart. MENSA level, perhaps?" Again Naomi didn't answer (mostly because the answer would have sounded entirely too much like boasting) and again it didn't seem like there was a need because Emily's grandmother continued on. "And I'm pretty sure I spotted a sense of humor lurking in there somewhere. I can see why Emily loves you. More importantly, I can see how much she loves you." Grandma Malone continued to smoke on, staring off at the distant lights through the Fitch's backyard. "Her entire life, I've never seen Emily look at anything or anyone the way she looks at you."

Naomi tried to stop her hand from shaking as she took another drag and was only mildly successful. She just had no idea where this conversation was going. This was worse than getting into a debate with Effy.

"Lucky for you," Grandma Malone continued on. Obviously Naomi's input was not needed in this conversation. "You look at her the exact same way or we would have had problems."

The older woman stubbed out her butt and pulled out another cigarette, puffing away like a train engine. "I'm old, Naomi," she said quietly. It was the first time her voice had changed at all. "I know I probably don't have as much time left as I would like. I see the way you look at me, how terrified you are of me disapproving of you because you're a girl. Am I right?"

Oh, so apparently her input was needed. Naomi nodded, staring off straight ahead just like the other woman was. "Yes ma'am," she said softly.

Grandma Malone sighed. It was such a deep, heavy sigh that it seemed almost impossible that her thin shoulders could carry such a weight. "I want to make sure the people I love are happy. You make her happier than I've ever seen her. That's all the matters anymore."

Naomi flicked her butt away and turned around then, tired of being talked at and not being talked to. These kind of vague conversations, that you'd think she'd get used to after being Effy's friend for so long, still got her on her nerves in the worst possible way. "With all due respect, ma'am-" she stared.

Grandma Malone interrupted her with a snort, not unlike how Katie liked to interrupt sentences. "Whenever young people use that phrase it is almost always followed by something utterly disrespectful. That said, please continue."

Naomi shrugged. "With all due respect, ma'am," she repeated, "I don't understand you. I figured that you would be..." she trailed off, unsure how to phrase the next part.

"And older, meaner version of my daughter?" Grandma Malone supplied helpfully.

Naomi just nodded and the older woman shrugged.

"Jenna is very, how do I phrase this? Set in her ways," she said with a shrug. "Hopefully when she gets to be my age she'll start focusing less on your gender and more on the important things, like the way Emily's eyes light up when she talks about you."

They both stayed quiet for several long moments, and just when Naomi was starting to shiver with the cold the old woman spoke up again. "You'll take care of my granddaughter for me, won't you?" she asked, and her voice was the softest that Naomi had ever heard it, full of affection. "I'll deny saying this to my grave, but Emily has always been my favorite."

Naomi could see that. It seemed like Katie was very much Grandma Fitch's little girl but it was Emily that Grandma Malone treasured. She had been seeing evidence of it all night.

"There's something in her that shines brighter than anyone else around her," Grandma Malone continued on. "It makes it impossible not to love her. Emily is the one I worry about. Her heart is such a bright, pure thing; such a precious thing. She has a spark. It went out for a little bit, and I know you were the cause."

Naomi breathed deeply and pushed away the ache in her heart. Emily may have already forgiven her and moved past it, and in most ways, after years of no longer being at Roundview Naomi had moved past it too, but she'd never ever be able to forgive herself. It was a pain she would carry around for the rest of her life.

If Grandma Malone noticed her reaction she didn't say anything and she didn't let it stop her little speech. "You were also the reason that it came back stronger than ever. I need to know you'll protect that spark." The woman turned around completely and held Naomi with just the commanding power of her eyes. "I need to know that you'll keep her heart safe. If I know that, when I go, I think I'll be okay. But you have to promise me, Naomi Campbell, because my Emily means everything to me."

And in that moment Naomi knew that her acceptance was hinged on the way she answered this request. A simple 'yes' or 'of course' would not do. It would not be enough. So in the end she just went with honesty again. She only ever opened her heart and let her emotions shine through her eyes with two people: her mother and Emily. But just this once she opened her heart for someone else and she answered with so much raw sincerity that it was impossible to deny her conviction.

"I promise, ma'am," she said simply. "Because she means everything to me too."

And with that, Naomi Campbell got the first genuine smile that Grandma Malone had ever bestowed upon one of her grand-children's partners. When they walked back into the party Naomi saw Emily almost burst into tears of relief, because they walked back through the door arm in arm, with Grandma Malone laughing uproariously over the toned-down stories of the stuff the gang got up to at Roundview that Naomi was regaling her with.

The whole party watched in shock for a moment until Grandma Malone pushed Naomi into Emily's arms. The redhead wrapped her arms around Naomi automatically while the older woman chuckled.

"I like this one, Emily," she said, and then leaned forward to kiss both Emily's cheek and Naomi's, giving the whole party the seal of approval. "Keep her around for a while."

Emily beamed up at Naomi, her eyes glowing with happiness. "I was planning on it," she said.

* * *

_December (Present Day)_

"Are we there yet?" a little voice asked from the back.

"Were we there yet ten minutes ago?" Naomi asked while Emily snickered in the passenger seat.

"No," Mia whined. "But that was ten whole minutes ago. I'm asking if we're there yet now."

"No, we're still not there yet," Naomi said with an eyeroll. "And we won't ever be there if you keep complaining."

Mia crossed her arms and pouted, but she got over herself after a little bit. "Sorry," she apologized. "I just wanna see grandmama. She promised she had a present for me!"

Emily outright laughed. "She always has a present for you, sweetheart. And you'll get to keep it as long as you don't get into a fight with your cousins again like you did at the summer barbecue. Deal?"

"She started it," Mia grumbled, but she relented. "Deal. Are we there yet?"

"Yes," Naomi sighed. She pulled into the packed driveway and shut off the engine. "We're here, thank God."

It was Emily's turn to roll her eyes. "Ignore your Mum, she's just grouchy cause she had to drive the whole twenty minutes."

"Oh, nice sarcasm Ems," Naomi retorted. She lifted Mia out of the car and into her arms so that the little girl wouldn't get snow all over her new shoes. Mia nuzzled her face affectionately into Naomi's shoulder and giggled, prompting Naomi to turn her head and kiss the little girl on the forehead, all without ever stopping her verbal sparring match with Emily. Having a family gave you awesome multi-tasking skills. "It's not my fault you're so pregnant I was afraid that you were going to pop if you accidentally bumped the steering wheel."

Emily scowled at her, but it didn't hold nearly as much venom as it could have. "Funny. Keep making jokes, Naoms. I'm not above making you sleep on the couch."

Naomi wisely shut her mouth. By this time they had reached the front door and it swung open before they could knock. The blast of noise that always accompanied these Fitch/Malone family parties, now amplified by the amount of kids in attendance, hit them full in the face.

Jenna beamed at the two of them and held her arms open to accept a boisterous hug from Mia.

"My favorite girl!" she said when Naomi transferred the little girl over to her, to which Katie (who was walking by bouncing a grumpy Abby) huffed indignantly.

"Grandmum!" Mia yelled and wrapped her little arms tightly around Jenna. "Where's grandmama?"

Jenna let her go and pointed to the corner by the mantelpiece, where Grandma Malone was wrapped up in several thick blankets. Mia weeded her way through the crowd and Grandma Malone's face split into a big smile when she spotted the six-year-old. Mia climbed into her lap and they could hear her excited little voice from the front hall as she gleefully dug into the present her great-grandmother produced.

Grandma Malone looked up and caught Naomi's eye from where the blonde woman was standing in the hall, her arms securely wrapped around a very pregnant Emily, exchanging pleasantries with Jenna. A look of complete understanding passed between them and when she looked from Naomi to Mia to Emily and back again and nodded, Naomi got the message.

The blonde waved back happily while Emily frowned. "What was that?" she asked curiously.

Naomi smiled. "Approval," she said quietly, and returned to her conversation with Katie.


	11. Give Me A Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Birthday gifts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

_The summer before their first year of University_

Katie was out again. She was out even though their mum had insisted they both be home for tomorrow and so Emily was sitting cross-legged on her old bed in their new house and looking at Katie's empty bed across from hers. There were no nightstands between the beds in this room, though. They used the windowsills instead. Ostensibly because it saved room but mostly so that Katie could easily push the two beds together and use them as one big one on the nights that Emily wasn't home (read: most of them).

But their mum had ordered Emily home for the whole day tomorrow, no exceptions, and their uneasy truce was new enough that Emily didn't feel like arguing with her about it. Tomorrow was going to be a family day, she said, and they were bloody well going to like it. She'd even taken their mobiles.

Katie had nodded and smiled and accepted it, and then as soon as it was obvious their parents were in bed she was out the window and down the trellis outside. In heels as well, which was actually rather impressive.

Not that she hadn't tried stopping her. If Emily had to spend the entirety of a very special day tomorrow with their family instead of out of the house like she wanted (preferably with Naomi, preferably naked) then damn it Katie had to suffer through it too.

She'd lunged forward and grabbed Katie's arm before her sister was completely out of the room. The little trinkets on the windowsill had clicked together loudly and they had both glanced nervously at the door.

"Let go, bitch!" Katie had hissed. "I have important places to be."

"Like a party? No way," Emily had hissed back, holding on stubbornly. "If I have to stay here so do you."

"One of us has to stay and cover for the other one!" Katie had snapped. "You owe me. I do it all the time for you when you're gone screwing the brains out of Campbell," she had paused guiltily when Emily growled at her but moved on. "And besides, I'm not going to a party."

Katie was very good at lying to just about everybody: their parents, the teachers at school, random people on the street, guys she met at bars when she told them their hair didn't make them look like a twat. But she had never and would never be able to lie to her sister. And so Emily knew the minute she said it that Katie was telling the truth, and in the next moment she knew exactly where her sister was going.

"Bad night?" she had asked sympathetically as she let go of Katie's arm (only then realizing that her sister was wearing jeans and a jacket, not normal Katie Fitch attire and certainly not clothes she would go partying in). Katie hadn't had to nod or answer at all. They shared an understanding look and she had climbed the rest of the way down the side of the house and headed to the bus stop.

And that's how Emily came to be sitting on her bed and watching the clock instead of curled up in her girlfriend's arms discovering new and wonderful ways to make her smile and gasp.

She couldn't really blame Katie, though. Especially not since she knew where her twin had gone: the Stonem house. Somehow – inexplicably – Katie and Effy had become best friends. It started after Effy's breakdown and had only strengthened after the funeral (almost two months now and still an ache formed in her chest when she thought the 'f' word). It had also oddly helped the twins' relationship as well. They had never been stronger or gotten along better than they did now. Part of it probably had something to do with simply growing up and accepting each other for the two entirely different people they had become, but a lot of it was because Katie now knew the feeling of having a girl in her life that their mum did not ever want her to see.

The only difference was that Katie's relationship with Effy was strictly platonic, while Naomi and Emily's was…decidedly less so.

Their parents were so happy to have the perfect family back together again (here Emily snorted and the sound was loud in the empty room) that they didn't even notice that most nights found either or both of the twins tucked away in someone else's bed.

Bed. Someone else's bed. Naomi's bed. With Naomi. 

Heat rushed all the way through her body and Emily quickly stopped that train of thought before it went off into entirely inappropriate places. Damn Katie for being right; her bitchy twin did cover for her significantly more often than she covered for Katie lately and she did owe her. The clock ticked over into the new day and Emily made an exasperated little noise before she lay flat and burrowed under the covers.

What a horrible start to what was supposed to be a great day.

_Happy fucking birthday to me._

* * *

Someone walked into the room just as the sun started to light up the sky with grey, pre-dawn light. Emily fought her way out of sleep to very blearily see a figure messing about by the windowsill where she kept her things.

A curious thing happens when you are half-asleep and it involves the way you react to people. Firstly, you will tell the absolute truth of whatever is on your mind simply because the filters that usually function between your brain, your heart, and your mouth cease to exist. Secondly, you react more to the sense of the person in the room with you more than the sight of them itself. So when Emily blinked groggily into awareness and clocked the person in her room and was immediately filled with nothing but an indescribable sense of familiarity, warmth, and safety, she automatically assumed Katie and rolled over without another thought.

She was asleep again between one breath and the next and so she missed the shaky sigh of relief from the figure and the soft, loving kiss it placed on her forehead before it left.

* * *

  
When Emily woke up fully the next morning the first thing she saw was Katie curled up in a ball on her own bed, still in her clothes from the night before but obviously home safe and sound. She thought she vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night when her sister came in but besides that – nothing. She jumped when the door rattled with the force of their mother's knock and almost smacked her head on the bookshelves above her bed.

"Girls! Breakfast in ten minutes. And wear something nice, your great-aunt is here."

Emily groaned and when Katie didn't move or acknowledge the words at all she rolled over and threw a pillow across the room at her sister. It hit with a nice solid **THUMP**. Katie squeaked and belatedly raised a hand to swipe at empty air.

"Fuck off," the older twin ordered.

"Get up," Emily ordered in the same tone. She sat up and swung her legs out of bed, running a hand through her messy, sleep-tousled hair when she was fully upright. "You heard mum, auntie is here and if we're not down in good enough time she'll have our heads."

Katie's response to this was to bury her head further into the pillow like if she didn't actually open her eyes the sun would go back down for a few more hours. Emily sympathized; both of the twins were not exactly what you would call morning people. In fact, they generally woke up at the speed of molasses and they weren't usually happy about it either. The exception to this rule seemed to be Naomi Campbell who was better than coffee at waking Emily up in the morning with a smile on her face.

The exception to Emily's rule, of course. Naomi being the exception to Katie's rule would just be weird. 

Emily shuddered at the weird tangent her thoughts had darted off in and got up to get dressed. She'd planned on a jeans and a t-shirt day but with Great (and loaded) Aunt Millie in the house she opted for a nice blouse and shirt combo instead. Eight minutes later (she counted because she was pretty sure Jenna was serious about the ten minutes thing) she was dressed and her hair was combed and Katie was still stubbornly in bed.

The door flew open without warning. "Mum says to come downstairs and help set the table for breakfast, bitches! Whoa what the fuck is wrong with Katie?"

Emily chanced a glance away from fixing her hair in the mirror and over at her twin, who was so far into the bed it legitimately looked like she was trying to drive herself straight through and onto the floor underneath.

"She's either asleep or trying desperately to suffocate herself with a pillow," she said finally. James broke out into maniacal little cackles and darted out of their room, already tattling at full volume that Katie wasn't even out of bed yet.

"WORM!" Katie only lifted her head for a second to shout after him before she returned to her previous suffocating position.

Desperate times, desperate measures. Emily stalked over, took firm hold of the comforter Katie was lying on top of, and yanked hard. Katie yelped indignantly as her support base was pulled abruptly from underneath her and she flipped, applying almost ninja-like skills to catch herself in time before she rolled off the bed entirely.

"Bitch!" she accused, but she got up and started getting dressed while Emily went back to fixing her hair. "You didn't have to be so rude about it."

"You weren't getting up," Emily shrugged unapologetically. "And you know how Mum gets when Aunt Millie is around. Perfect house, perfect breakfast, perfect family – "

"Perfectly gay daughter?" Katie interrupted.

"Well we leave that bit out, don't we?" Emily met her sister's eyes through the mirror and they shared an understanding little smile. She saw Katie start to rummage through her jewelry and frowned. "Are you lost? Those are mine."

"Yeah well I can't find my gold necklace. Maybe it's in your pile."

"I didn't steal it."

"I didn't fucking say you stole it I said maybe it's in your pile." Before the conversation could degenerate into a bickering match Katie let out a delighted little squeal and lifted something up. "Oooooh this is nice. Where'd you get it? Can I have it?"

"No," Emily answered automatically. "What is it?"

Katie pouted but obediently handed it over when Emily held out her hand for it. "Whatever, it's not that pretty anyway," she huffed. She started getting dressed while Emily turned over the piece of jewelry in her hands.

It was a bracelet. And no matter what Katie said it was a really pretty bracelet: delicate and bright silver, obviously real and not the fake stuff that turns your skin green. It looked a little weird, though, and it took a moment for Emily to realize it wasn't just a bracelet but a charm bracelet with empty spots to hang charms from at regular intervals. When it clinked her eyes darted down and finally caught on to the charm already hanging from it. It was a little silver book. Emily frowned and held the bracelet up higher. She could have sworn that she didn't own anything like this.

Katie glanced over and saw her still looking at it. "Wear it," she encouraged.

"I didn't even know I had this," Emily whispered, but she fastened the bracelet onto her right wrist anyway.

"You probably bought it and forgot about it," Katie shrugged. "I do that all the time. It's kind of cool because it's like finding a surprise present or something. Ready to go down?"

Emily yanked her eyes away from the bracelet to see her sister hovering near the door. "As I'll ever be," she answered. And then she pushed all thoughts of the bracelet to the back of her mind and went downstairs.

* * *

"What about you, Emily? Any boys you have your eye on?"

Emily had to swallow twice to get the piece of bread that stuck in her throat at the question to go all the way down and then she had to take great gulps of water before she could speak properly.

"No, Auntie, no boys," she croaked. Jenna shot her a warning look from across the table but didn't otherwise comment on the ambiguous phrasing of her answer.

"Why not?" her aunt blustered. Aunt Millie was the type of person who never did anything quietly. "Pretty girl like you all the boys must be drooling to take you out. Come now, what's your type? Maybe your Auntie will know someone you might like."

That was doubtful. Emily smirked and ignored the kick that Katie aimed at her shins. "I've sort of got a thing for blonde hair and blue eyes," she said breezily. The reactions around the table varied: her dad was oblivious, James was having trouble not snickering into his eggs, Katie rolled her eyes, and Jenna's grip tightened until Emily thought her glass of orange juice was going to break all over the table.

Aunt Millie nodded approvingly. "The classics, just like your auntie. Now you're saying there's no one that looks like that around here? Bristol is small but not that small, sweetheart."

"Well this is this one person…" she started to say.

"Darn, we're all out of toast," Jenna burst out suddenly. "Emily will you run along into the kitchen and make some more?"

Emily bit the inside of her cheek to control her laughter. Of course she hadn't been planning on saying anything, but it was just way too easy to wind Jenna up like that. "Sure thing, mum," she answered in the same sickly-sweet tone. She went into the kitchen and grabbed some bread from the pantry, throwing them in the toaster and leaning against the counter as she waited for them to brown.

It was as she was absently picking at her nails (a childhood habit she'd never quite been able to stop) that she noticed the sun glinting off something in the flowerbox outside the kitchen window. Curiosity got the better of her and she leaned over to look inside. There, tucked carefully on top of the dirt between two of the flowers, was another charm.

"What?" she whispered to the empty room. She fished the charm out of the box and ran it under the water for a minute to clean it off before she held it up for inspection. A little, painstakingly carved rose.

"Em," the door to the kitchen burst open and she jerked and almost dropped the charm as Katie came striding in. "You're taking forever. It's making toast not rocket science. Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" she added.

"All the leopard print is finally getting to me," she sniped on auto-pilot.

Katie rolled her eyes. "You've been spending too much time with Campbell," she accused as she fished the (now-burnt) toast out and put replacement bread in. "That was some quality sarcasm."

Emily held her wrist up again and carefully put the newly-cleaned rose charm right next to the book. It made a delightful little clinking sound, almost as if it was happy to be with its mate.

"What's that?" Katie asked, grabbing her wrist without permission and pulling her so Emily's whole body came forward in order to give herself a better view. "Another charm? I thought it only had the one."

"So did I," Emily said quietly, her eyes still locked on the bracelet. "I found it in the flowerbox."

"A rose among the roses?" Katie snorted. "Nice."

Emily's laugh bubbled out of her. She hadn't thought of it like that. It was funny.

"So it's a scavenger hunt for charms?" Katie asked as the toast popped up and scared both of them. "Who in the world would think of something like tha-" she cut herself off and sighed. "Of course."

A warm bubble of happiness grew inside of Emily's stomach and traveled up to her heart where it burst in a million pieces of loved up joy. Of course. 

Naomi.

* * *

  
The third one was in the garage.

As soon as they bought their new house their dad had taken to trying to invent new kinds of exercise machines again and he had claimed the garage as his own inventing space. While this annoyed Jenna and Katie it was fine with Emily whose moped didn't need much space anyway.

She was checking the air pressure in her tires when she heard the clanking and swearing and then saw her Dad's head pop out from behind some large metal contraption that didn't exactly look like it had a purpose.

"Emsy, love," he shouted when he spotted her. "Hand me that wrench, will you?"

"Sure thing Dad," she said. She put her tools on the ground and walked over the bench he had been gesturing towards. It was absolutely chock full of wrenches. "Um, which one?" she asked uncertainly.

"Big one that looks like a claw," he called back, his voice muffled from behind the equipment.

Emily spotted the one and almost turned away entirely, but some niggling feeling in her stomach made her look back. She'd nearly missed it with all the other silver on the bench but there, right in between a hammer and a screwdriver, was another charm. A little silver bike.

She handed the wrench to her dad and drifted back over to the moped, attaching the bike next to the rose as she went, a dreamy little smile on her face the entire time.

* * *

  
James was the one to find the fourth charm. He went to get the post while the rest of the family cleared the table after lunch and came back frowning, one hand holding the mail and the other cradling something little in his palm.

"The fuck is this?" he asked them and held out his hand over the table.

"James!" Jenna scolded. "Language."

"What? Aunt Millie isn't here anymore –"

 _Thank god_ , was the general consensus. There was only so much interrogation about their lives a family could take.

"– and you're the one who says I'm not allowed to bloody swear around her. I just want to know what the fuck this is. It was sitting on the catflap."

"Rob!" their mum turned to their dad for help. "Will you do something?"

"What is it, son?" Rob asked, leaning forward for a better look.

"ROB!"

"I mean," he backpedaled quickly. "No swearing, boy. Twenty reps on the naughty bar."

"But-"

"Now, James!"

The youngest Fitch grumbled and tossed both the post and the thing in his hand carelessly onto the table. The rest of the family was distracted with clearing up but Emily saw the sun glint off the little charm. She snatched it before Katie could and cradled it in both hands. The charm fit snugly in her palm: a little silver cat.

Katie snorted. "Is that some kind of lezza joke?" she asked as Emily attached it next to the rose.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, lesbians like cats," Katie elaborated. "And also puss-"

Emily darted forward and slapped her hand over Katie's mouth before the rest of that sentence could come out. Her eyes flicked around until she spotted Jenna washing dishes in the kitchen, thankfully out of earshot.

"Do you not want me to see Naomi ever again?" Emily hissed.

Katie pried her hand off. "OW!" she complained, albeit quietly. "Geez, can't even take a fucking joke anymore."

Emily just rolled her eyes.

* * *

Katie found the fifth one.

Emily was sitting in their room reading (Jenna still wouldn't let them go anywhere, despite the fact they weren't even doing anything as a family again until dinner).

"Emily. Emily. Emily!"

She pinched the bridge of her nose as if that would stave off the impending headache and sighed. "What?" she shouted back.

"Come here!"

Emily threw her book to the side and reacted to the excited quirk in Katie's voice by bounding down the stairs two at a time. Her twin was standing in the living room, one hand holding something triumphantly above her head. The happy bubble in Emily's stomach returned.

"Give it over," she said, holding out her hand.

Katie smirked. "What do you say?"

"Give it over now, bitch."

"Hey!" Katie smacked her hard in the shoulder. "Now what do you really say?"

"Katie you are the most beautiful sister in the world and I love you, please give it over now?"

"That's better."

Emily's grin reached epic proportions as Katie handed over the charm and she held it close to her body like it was something precious, like it was made of gold and diamonds instead of silver.

Katie looked a little disgusted. "You're so sickeningly sweet I think I'm going to throw up," she said dramatically. "Whatever. I found it in your schoolbag."

Her grin morphed into a frown. "What were you doing in my bag?"

"Not important," Katie waved her off with a little shrug. "I found you a charm. Appreciate it, yeah?"

Emily sighed and decided she just really didn't want to know badly enough to interrogate Katie about it. The little silver heart went next to the cat.

* * *

  
Surprisingly, the sixth one was found because of her mum.

"What do you mean there are no more potatoes?" Jenna demanded, hands on her hips and looking for all the world like Emily had just told her that she'd decided she wanted to kick puppies for a living or something.

"I mean there are no more potatoes," Emily repeated back. "We must have used them all yesterday."

Jenna made a high-pitched little angry noise and turned back around. "How in the world am I supposed to make potato and rutabaga soup without the potatoes?" she demanded.

It was only through iron-clad self-control that Emily refrained from pointing out that maybe not being able to make potato and rutabaga anything was a good thing. Instead she just offered an olive branch, like she'd found herself doing a lot lately.

"Want me to run and get some more?" she offered.

Jenna turned a bright, only slightly fake smile on her middle child. "Oh Emily would you? That would be wonderful. Take some money from my purse and get a whole bag please?"

Emily grabbed the money and her jacket and went out into the garage. Her moped was sitting just where she'd left it that morning and just the memory of what she'd found in the garage last sent a warm feeling shooting through her veins. She straddled her Vespa and yelped when she put her helmet on and something small and hard hit the top of her head instead.

Her helmet was back off in an instant and something small and silver bounced out and onto the ground at her feet. A smile broke across her face automatically as she reached down and scooped up the charm.

At first she thought it was little glasses but, as she held it closer and stared at it longer, a delighted laugh burst out and echoed around the empty garage.

The little pair of goggles went next to the heart, and not even the thought of potato and rutabaga soup could put a damper on the lightness inside of her right then.

* * *

  
The seventh was strategically placed.

"So…" Katie drummed her fingers against the couch in an effort to staunch her boredom. Emily found herself adding harmony with her feet against the coffee table for the same reason. "Movie?"

Their parents and James had ordered them out of the kitchen while they made dinner but they still weren't allowed to leave or, really, go anywhere beyond the living room. Who knew how long it would take for that ragtag bunch of family members to make dinner, though.

Emily tore her gaze away from where she had been following the swirls in the pattern on the ceiling and sighed. She shrugged. "Sure."

It took a great amount of effort to heave herself to her feet and over to the entertainment center where they kept their DVDs, mostly because she was so bored she didn't actually want to move.

"Got a preference?" she asked in a monotone.

"Don't sound so excited."

Emily flipped her off and went back to staring through their assorted DVDs. She stopped and turned back when she passed the TV shows (arranged in alphabetic order, because this was Jenna Fitch we're talking about and if anyone liked order in their house it was her). It went Eastenders and then Friends – but the Friends DVDs were skewed.

Something was wedged between season one and season two.

The noise she made was somewhere between a gasp and a squeal as the lightness overtook her again. It felt like she was flying as she worked the small silver charm out from between the boxes.

"What?" Katie sat up quickly, finally interested, and then lost interest again immediately when she realized what had happened. "Oh. You found another one. Yippee."

Emily ignored her sister in favor of pouring over the newest charm. The little silver lobster clinked against the little goggles and every time she heard the noise her heart beat harder, more full of joy with every thump until she thought she was just going to burst from happiness.

"It's good to know that the key to your happiness is a bunch of random silver toys," Katie said sardonically as Jenna called them in for dinner. "I'll keep it in mind for next yet."

 _Only if you're my one true love, Katiekins_ , Emily thought to that, but she didn't say it out loud. Katie was easily offended, after all.

* * *

  
The minute dinner and cake was over and Jenna handed over their mobiles and said they were free to go, Emily and Katie dashed out of the room and upstairs so quickly they probably left smoke outlines of themselves behind like in those old cartoons.

Once secluded upstairs the girls reached under their respective beds and grabbed wrapped presents.

"I thought we weren't going to get each other anything," Katie said accusingly when Emily came up with the gift.

"I lied," Emily smiled.

Katie matched her grin. "So did I," she answered with a shrug. They switched gifts simultaneously.

Emily shook hers around to try and figure out what was inside but stopped when Katie yelped. "Oi! If you break that I'm not buying you a new one." She mouthed an apology and opened it like a normal person instead. Her eyes widened.

"Katie, I –"

"Don't," Katie said roughly, blushing under the look of affection Emily was giving her. "It's not just for you and Campbell, though. I expect to see you at least three times a week with that."

Emily put down the webcam and reached over to hug her sister. "Thank you, Katiekins," she said softly.

"You're welcome," Katie whispered into her shoulder. She squeezed her once and let her go. "Now let me open mine."

Emily turned around and started to pack a bag for spending the night at Naomi's (she'd spent all day at home, she was spending the night at Naomi's and Jenna would just have to suck it up), but stopped when she heard the crinkling noise stop and the gasp from behind her.

"How did you – but I didn't – Emily!" 

She grinned at the delighted look on her sister's face.

"I thought these tickets were sold out!" Katie screeched and Emily winced at the volume but her grin did not falter once.

"They were. Right after I got those," Emily said. Katie crossed the space between them and tackled Emily into her bed with a bear hug, the both of them falling backwards in a jumble of limbs and giggles.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Katie repeated, holding onto Emily with one hand and the concert tickets in the other.

"It's good to know that the key to your happiness is a pair of concert tickets," Emily teased, although she returned the hug with equal vigor. They hadn't had time to properly be sisters in quite a long time. "I'll remember that for next year."

"Twat," Katie scoffed affectionately. She let go and moved back to her bed, still staring at the tickets but allowing Emily to get up and put on her jacket.

Emily reached in her pocket to check and make sure she had her keys and stopped when her hand encountered metal that was too small and too oddly shaped to be the keys to her moped. The grin on her face could have lit up the entire town when she pulled out the charm (which she could have sworn had not been in her pocket earlier when she went to the market and Katie was looking awfully smug over there on her bed).

The little silver house gleamed up at her and she shook her head, putting it in the last spot right between the lobster and the book. Then her face turned calculating as she studied her bracelet. _Way to be random, Naoms,_ she thought absently as she turned her wrist back and forth.

Katie snorted. "Campbell is going to get the shag of her lifetime for that, isn't she?"

The grin on Emily's face morphed from bright to dirty in a millisecond. She didn't answer, though, just grabbed her bag and threw her sister a wink as she walked out. "Don't wait up for me."

"Oh believe me, I wasn't planning on it."

* * *

  
It's very possible there's no world record for the shortest amount of time it takes to drive a moped to your girlfriend's house (because that would be a very odd, specific world record to have), but if there was Emily broke it twice over. Hopefully without breaking any speeding laws as well, but she wasn't entirely certain about that.

Gina and Keiran were just heading out as she flew up the sidewalk to the front door.

"Emily!" the older Campbell woman's face lit up and she grabbed Emily in a warm hug that the little redhead returned enthusiastically. Gina's hugs were ten times better than any time Jenna had ever tried to do the same. "Happy birthday, love."

"Thanks Gina," she said breathlessly. "Is Naoms home?"

"Upstairs. Have fun, Keiran and I are going to the cinema."

It wasn't Emily's imagination that Gina winked as she said this, nor was it her imagination that Keiran had a slightly perturbed look on his face as they left. Emily shrugged it off and took the stairs two at a time to get to Naomi's room, a place she now knew she could navigate to blindfolded and deaf.

Naomi swung open her door on the first knock and her entire face lit up when she saw who was standing in her doorway. She opened her mouth, probably to say "hi", but didn't get quite as far as actual words, mostly because Emily grabbed the front of her t-shirt and crashed their lips together.

Emily kept the grip on her shirt, twisting and pulling to get the blonde as close to her as possible, and after a half second of surprise Naomi's arms came up and wrapped around her to aid in that endeavor. She really really fucking loved kissing Naomi. And it wasn't just that she could now anytime she wanted, and it wasn't just that she was desperately in love with the girl (although both of those things were definitely true), it was also because Naomi was a phenomenal kisser. Like, really, it was almost sinful.

One hand stayed on Emily's back and the other tangled in her hair as her mouth created a whole maelstrom of pleasure and as her lips moved perfectly in time with Emily's, as she bit lightly at her bottom lip and then soothed the spot immediately with her tongue, as her hands pulled Emily closer until their hips were pressed together in the most delightful way possible. Emily broke the kiss with a gasp and that was only because she needed oxygen to live.

Naomi rested her forehead against Emily's as they fought to regain their breath, untangling one hand from her red hair and reaching up to caress Emily's face lovingly instead.

Emily turned her cheek into the touch, relishing the way Naomi's thumb brushed along her cheekbone and under her eye.

"Jesus," the blonde girl cursed breathlessly. "That kiss. I thought it was _your_ birthday."

Those words brought the fire in Emily's stomach, that had calmed a little bit in the interim between kisses, rushing back to life. She stepped out of Naomi's arms and gave the blonde a playful shove, pushing her forcefully backwards so she fell onto her bed. Naomi's eyes darkened considerably. She always liked it when Emily was a little bit forceful, because nothing made her feel more fucking wanted and desirable.

"It is," Emily growled. She hopped onto the bed and straddled the blonde, eliciting a strangled gasp when she ran her tongue along Naomi's throat and nipped gently at her pulse point. "And you're my present."

* * *

  
Several hours later they were both curled up in the rumpled mess they'd made of Naomi's sheets. Somehow they'd both at least got their underwear and a shirt back on in case Gina decided that walking in without knocking (again) was a smart thing to do.

Naomi was fast asleep, her face more peaceful than anyone ever got the privilege of seeing. She was asleep on her stomach, her right arm curled underneath herself and her left arm thrown over Emily's stomach as she cuddled into the redhead's side and pressed her face against her shoulder. Emily adored when Naomi decided to use her as her own personal teddy bear so she didn't see any reason to move for a very long time. Emily was lying on her back, awake, her left hand playing absently with Naomi's messed up hair and her right arm held up in the air as she studied her bracelet for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.

"Way to be random, Naomi. I mean the lobster and the goggles, yeah, but-" "Who said anything about random?" 

That was the way the conversation had gone (when they were actually speaking sentences and not breathy gasps and curses). And that had gotten Emily's curiosity piqued all over again, so back to studying the bracelet it was.

She was partway between waking Naomi up with a kiss and holding out until the other girl explained or just forgetting about it altogether when everything finally clicked in her head and my god it was so obvious she felt a little stupid for not thinking of it before. Tears sprang to her eyes, kept at bay only through rapid blinks.

A book. 

_Middle school. Katie had stolen the book they needed to read for class because she'd lost hers. Emily stomped her foot and folded her arms and tried not to get too upset._

_"Katie you can't just take mine! I need to read it too. Katie!" But her sister wasn't listening._

_"You can borrow mine."_

_She turned around and was met with the sight of the blonde girl with the bright blue eyes from their class holding out a copy of the book. She was blushing a bit and shifting her weight from side to side as she waited for Emily to take it._

_"Thank you, but what about you?" she'd asked even as her hand reached out and grabbed it. Their fingers brushed._

_"I've already read it. I have a copy at home."_

_"Oh. Well, thank you –"_

_"Naomi."_

_"Thank you, Naomi."_

_It was the first time they'd ever spoken._

A rose. 

_The thorns of the roses dug into her side as she pulled Naomi deeper into rosebush and out of sight of everybody else at the party. The pain was outweighed by the feeling of their lips bumping clumsily together. The music seemed to thump louder and in time with her heart as Naomi let out a quiet sigh against her lips._

_She'd never kissed anyone quite the way she kissed Naomi. And she never wanted to kiss anyone else like it again._

_At least until Katie ruined it._

A bike. 

_"Can we go somewhere? Anywhere."_

_Of course she'd said yes. With Naomi sounding so small and alone there was no possible way she was going to say no. And they were friends now, because if you can't be with the person you love then being friends is the next best thing, right?_

_But with the warm wind tossing her hair away from her face and Naomi's delighted giggles joining in time with her own, she decided that maybe this was just the best best_ _thing. Full stop._

A cat. 

_The catflap. She could hear the tears in Naomi's voice as she struggled to get the rest of the words out._

_"And when I'm with you I feel happier. Less alone. Less lonely."_

_The air hitched in Emily's throat and her chest ached with the urge to open the door and pull Naomi into a hug. But the other girl had hurt her more than she could possibly imagine._

_Still, she couldn't stand Naomi in pain. Didn't think she'd ever be able to stand Naomi in pain. So her hand reached out almost without permission from her brain and she grabbed for Naomi's hand. Her heart stuttered when Naomi not only latched onto her hand, but cradled it between both of her own like it was the only stable thing in a storm._

_She squeezed tightly, and Naomi squeezed back._

A heart. 

_"Come to the college ball with me, like we're together."_

_"_ _I like girls. No, I like a girl. No, I love her. I love…her."_

A pair of goggles. 

_"So how do I look?" The goggles fit snugly around her face and made her hair stick out at funny angles in some places, but they were the best gift anyone had ever gotten her._

_And it was Naomi who had gotten them, Naomi who had bought them to keep her safe, Naomi who was looking at her with so much adoration she thought she was going to burst._

_"Fucking adorable," her girlfriend said, and pulled her in for a kiss._

A lobster. 

_"Was that a crack against the color of my hair, Campbell?"_

_"Well it is awfully red," Naomi giggled and ducked when Emily swiped at her playfully. "Calm your tits, Em. Don't you ever watch Friends?"_

_"No."_

_"No?"_

_"Well there's no need to look like I've just murdered your firstborn child."_

_"You'll see," Naomi jumped up off the bed and grabbed a DVD case from the bookshelf in the corner. "You're my lobster. And you love me more than cheese."_

_"I do?"_

_"You will when we get to season two."_

A small house. 

This was the only one that was confusing. Why in the world a house? A closer inspection yielded a tiny little shovel carved leaning against the side and Emily's frown cleared.

Oh, not a house at all.

A shed. 

_"I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. I think I was twelve."_

Emily lowered her arm, leaned over, and kissed Naomi for all she was worth, just kept her lips moving until the blonde woke up and started to respond, running her hand up and down the bare skin underneath Emily's shirt even before those beautiful blue eyes were fully open.

"Hello," she said quietly, in that early morning voice she had that was a thousand times sexier simply because Emily got to hear it. "What was that for?"

"I just really fucking love you," Emily responded.

"Oh," Naomi blinked and then that special smile she saved just for Emily made an appearance. "I really fucking love you, too."

"I know."

* * *

_Present Day_

"Happy birthday dear MIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA. Happy birthday to you!"

The whole room erupted into cheers as the new seven-year-old leaned over and blew out her candles with gusto.

Emily laughed and clapped. "Did you make a wish?" she asked as she moved the cake out of the way and made room for Mia's presents.

"Yeah, but I can't tell you what it is," Mia told her solemnly, "otherwise it won't come true."

"That's very true," Emily nodded back just as solemnly. "Let me go cut this for you and then we can all have cake!"

The cheers got louder as Mia's friends from school and from the neighborhood brightened at the promise of sugar in the near future. Leaving Katie to be a drill-sergeant about rounding the kids up for presents (which she was surprisingly good at) Emily carried the cake into the kitchen.

Here were most of the adults, hiding away from the rambunctious youngsters whose energy levels seemed to increase with proximity to each other. She was glad that they'd gotten Mia's party out of the way today, because she was due any day now and she really hadn't wanted the birth to overshadow Mia's big day.

She put the cake on the counter and turned to her friends and parents, where she was met with the strangest sight of her life. Jenna Fitch was doubled over, clutching her stomach and laughing so hard that tears were leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

"What in the world?" she asked no one in particular.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Your mother is finding this exceedingly hilarious," her wife said, waving the final ultrasound she'd gotten last week in her direction.

"Oh," Emily scowled at her mother. "It's not funny! We've had to scramble to get things ready in time."

Jenna drew herself up to answer but as soon as she opened her mouth another peal of laughter came out instead.

Emily crossed her arms. "If you're quite done…" she said blandly.

JJ started snickering as well but stopped when Lara elbowed him in the side. "We shouldn't be surprised," he said. "It's quite common with artificial conception, as well as the fact that you, being a twin yourself, would be exponentially more likely to carry the gene –"

"Twins," Jenna gasped. "Twins. Oh, sweet revenge."

"How very supportive of you," Emily quipped, but even she couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching up in amusement.

Jenna was still doubled over, and every time it looked like she was gaining control of herself she'd catch sight of the ultrasound, or of Emily, or of Naomi's slightly disturbed face, and the laughter would start again. Emily rolled her eyes and left Naomi to cut the cake, returning back into the dining room just as the kids were all rushing outside.

"I figured we should let them run for a bit," Katie told her, breathlessly pushing back some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and into her eyes. "Let loose some energy before we give them more energy."

"Probably a good idea," Emily agreed. "Just one second. MIA!"

The little blonde head appeared in the doorway to the backyard. "You rang?"

Katie laughed and Emily snickered. "Come here for a second, love, I've got another present for you."

Mia's eyes widened and she was across the room in two seconds flat. "Another one?" her hands reached up and grabbed the long, flat box that Emily handed to her. 

"You don't have to wear it right now, though."

Paper crinkled as Mia tore into the present and then she sat there staring for a full minute. She stared so long Emily almost thought she didn't like it, until she looked up with big shining eyes and held her wrist up for help to put it on. "It's just like yours," she said in awe, running a finger reverently over the silver charm bracelet.

"Yup," Emily said. She finished latching on the bracelet and kissed first the wrist and then Mia's forehead. "Just for you. It's even already got a charm on it. Do you like it?"

Mia's smile rivaled the sun when she held up the bracelet and noticed the charm of the little bird that dangled and caught the light. "It's the best. Is the cake ready?"

Emily laughed at the complete turnaround from awe to impatience. "I'm sure it is. Why don't you go get your friends?"

The shrieking in the yard increased as Mia bolted out the door and started shouting orders. Emily shook her head and her eyes connected with Katie's across the room.

Katie snorted. "Real original, Ems. Wonder where you got an idea like that."

Emily looked over through the kitchen door where Naomi had her head thrown back, laughing uproariously at something Cook had just said, and twisted the bracelet on her wrist until the charms clinked together.

"Oh, you know, no place in particular."


	12. Show Me Some Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gina has a POV chapter because I said so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

_Gina_

Anthea Stonem will tell you that she knew her daughter was going to be special from the moment she was born because she didn't cry.

I'll tell you I knew mine was going to be special from the moment she was born because she did.

The doctors put her in my arms, this tiny little thing with a red scrunched up face and a head full of blonde hair, ten little toes and ten little fingers on hands that were already balled into fists and waving angrily at the world. Naomi hates injustice and to a newborn baby the worst injustice in the world is the fact that they are unceremoniously taken from a place that is warm and safe to a place that is loud and cold. 

I thought I loved her father but it was nothing to the way I felt when I held her for the first time. I had stars in my eyes. I thought the smile on my mouth would split my face apart. I fell in love with that baby girl, little scowl and all. She opened eyes that were already an astonishing shade of blue and looked at me. And then she cried. Her first protest. It was the loudest noise I'd ever heard something so small make and I was inexplicably proud of her for it. She was the most gorgeous little thing I'd ever seen in my entire life and I named her Naomi because I knew it meant "beautiful" (in my defense, Naomi Campbell was not an infamous name back then).

My Naomi always had the biggest heart in the world and a headstrong, firecracker personality to go along with it. I always knew she'd need someone special to keep her heart safe.

When she was five years old I got a call from the neighbors because Naomi had given five of the neighborhood boys a black eye each. It turned out she'd done it because they'd been throwing rocks at an old stray with three legs. Once, she brought home a box of kittens that had been abandoned by their mother and she nursed them until they were old enough to be on their own. We found homes for all but one, the runt of the litter than I allowed her to keep. It was a little ginger that she named Tigger and even though she won't ever admit this to anyone she cried like a baby when he got hit by a car the day before she started middle school.

Technically the first lodger I ever took in was Naomi's fault. We passed a young homeless girl on the street cradling her baby and Naomi asked why we couldn't take the girl home and help her the way we helped her kittens. And because there was simply no way I could explain to this little girl with such honest eyes the difference between kittens and people…we did. The girl was named Natalie and her baby was Evan, and he inexplicably adored my daughter. Natalie stayed just long enough to get back on her feet before she left and Naomi cried then too.

The lodger situation sort of snowballed out of control after that point. I know it did. And I also know that I should have tried to pay more attention to loving my daughter than to loving the world. But you see, I loved my daughter so much that I wanted to fix the world for her.

And my God, she had always been ridiculously smart. Naomi started using words like "encumbered" by age five. She read entire children's books before most children got through one Dr. Seuss. She could do simple addition in her head before primary school. Every day she'd come home with glowing commendations and stickers littering her coursework. "Brilliant", "well-behaved", "a pleasure to have in class".

She was always so open and honest and pure-hearted. Naomi would never be afraid to tell you when she thought you were wrong, and her smile was infectious beyond words.

I can tell you the first time I heard the name Emily.

Naomi couldn't have been more than twelve years old. It was the first day of one of her last few years in primary and she burst into the house with more excitement than normal (that was another wonderful thing about Naomi back then; everything was brilliant and exciting and an adventure). I made her a snack and she babbled on almost obsessively about these new girls in her class. They were twins Mum isn't that so cool, they look almost exactly alike except not really because one is meaner and one is nicer and you always say that being mean makes you uglier so I think that means the nice one is much prettier, except, you know, I think that anyway and the meaner one is especially mean to her sister and that isn't fair is it? Do you think that's fair? I don't think that's fair. And the nicer one is really shy. I think she needs a friend. I think I'm going to be her friend.

I remember that I asked which was which and was informed, quite solemnly around a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich I may add, that the mean one was Katie and the nice one was _Emily_.

Looking back now, it's strange the way she said Emily's name then. She used the same tone she used when she had convinced me to not punish her for punching out the neighborhood boys, or when the kittens needed a home, or when Natalie did. Like Emily was something precious that needed looking after.

I can also tell you the exact moment my bright and brave little girl started to change. It was the very next day, when she came home in tears and covered in mud. Because Katie had shoved Emily, and so Naomi had told her she shouldn't be mean to her sister, and Katie had shoved her instead. The shove had sent Naomi sprawling into a puddle left over from the rain the night before and all the other kids had just stood there and laughed. 

Naomi's first wall went up that day. And she didn't cry in front of me again for quite some time.

I saw the change start to happen and couldn't quite do anything to stop it. She became quieter and more reserved. She didn't smile as often. I knew she was bullied sometimes in school but she never talked about it. But she was still my Naomi, and although she kept building up more and more walls between herself and the world, she still left a little pathway into her heart open for me. And she still talked about Emily in that same tone of voice.

On the night before the last day of middle school a boy in her class had a party. Everyone was invited and to my everlasting surprise Naomi said she wanted to go. She came back several hours earlier than expected. I remember it vividly, if only for the completely and utterly terrified look on her face when I asked her what happened. She just told me it was nothing and went up to her room.

The next day she came home with a dirty face and a ripped shirt. Her cheeks were streaked with dry tears. And when I asked her what happened (again, for the second time in two days) her final wall went up. She blanked the emotions off her face and she closed off her heart. Her expressive eyes shut down. She said she got into a fight again with Katie and Emily. This time there was no subtle inflection or tone of voice. Both names were spat with equal amounts of venom.

Naomi's final change was instantaneous. After that night she was bitter and sarcastic most of the time. Naomi had never been afraid to face up to tough emotions before, but she started to push people away and developed a tendency to run when she got scared. Gone was my little girl who thought the whole world was bright and beautiful; in her place was a petulant, jaded teenager who stubbornly refused to see the good in anything.

Except she still left cheese out for the stray cats that wandered around the neighborhood. And although she complained loud and long about the lodgers she never demanded they leave, and in fact had even let a young man who had run away from an abusive home stay in her room for several weeks because the rest of the house was full. She still had her preciously pure heart. It was just better guarded.

We reached a stalemate where we just let each other exist for a while. Nothing changed until she started Roundview at the end of the summer. She finally developed a group of friends (even if I did and still do think that Cook was too loud and vulgar and that Effy was too closed-off and mysterious), she started talking to me again after school, mostly about her classes but I took the progress where I could get it.

And then one morning I was awake early and Naomi took off out the door like her pants were on fire, bag slung haphazardly over one shoulder and one shoe still untied and slipping off her foot. She didn't even notice me standing in the hall she was in such a hurry to leave. The traffic of people coming and going from our house was so random at that point it was difficult to know who was there at any given time but I liked to think I kept at least some record of who was where, so imagine my surprise when I was making tea a half-hour later and a redhead walked down the stairs. She was quite the gorgeous little thing and I knew who she was immediately. I didn't have to be told. This girl with the warm brown eyes and the vibrant red hair and the slightly sad smile (which I had no doubt, at that point, my daughter had put on her) was the girl whose name Naomi had said in that tone for years. I knew without a doubt that this was Emily.

If you have never met Emily, then you don't know that there is something about her that immediately sets off a reaction inside of your brain. That reaction says, distinctively and repeatedly, 'I like this girl'. It's something to do with her kind eyes, I think, or the way her smile makes you want to hug her and never let go. She's a magnetic being, Emily Fitch, and she's quite difficult to resist. She had also looked so nervous (and a little lost) that I had smiled at her automatically and held out my hand.

"Hello," I remember introducing myself. "You must be Emily. I didn't know you stayed over last night."

Emily's smile had brightened and it made the lights in the room dim in comparison. I remember thinking: _Ah, so Emily Fitch is **that** kind of dangerous._

"I was helping Naomi with her class president campaign," she had said and I was momentarily confused. It'd been a while since Naomi had shown any amount of interest in social anything.

"Oh. Well how wonderful. Do you think she can win?"

Emily's smile had become transcendent. "I think she can do anything," she had said firmly.

And that's when I knew that Emily Fitch was special. Somehow, some way, she was able to look past the tough-as-nails Naomi Campbell mask that my daughter projected on a day to day basis. Somehow Emily saw my Naomi and she was absolutely in love with what she could see.

So I did what any sane woman who was absolutely convinced she'd just met her future daughter-in-law would do.

I invited her for tea.

It is no secret that I adore Emily. And it's not just because she's the only person I've met who matches my daughter in just about every aspect of life. It's because I watched Naomi fall in love with Emily, and the deeper she fell the more of my old Naomi I saw. Emily's kind soul brought back Naomi's kind soul; Emily's brave heart brought back Naomi's brave heart.

But the thing I'm most proud about is that Naomi finished the job herself.

Perhaps spending half the year in Ireland with Keiran (that wonderful Irish bastard, just another thing I'm grateful to my daughter for) was not the best of ideas, but Naomi needed to grow without me holding her hand. And grow she did. She told me the whole story of what happened when I got back: sleeping with that girl, almost losing Emily, and how she finally fixed what she broke.

I was ridiculously proud of her. She'd finished the final obstacle and stopped running. She was my Naomi again. Although, I suppose by that point she was Emily's Naomi. I was okay with that. It was actually rather fucking wonderful. Like I said, it's hard not to adore Emily Fitch.

I haven't stopped being proud of her since. I get happier every time she and Emily burst through my door (they do it quite often, though, have they never heard of simply giving someone a call on the phone). The first time they did so was when they ran in giggling and hand in hand, with a shiny ring on Emily's finger and questions about wedding ideas. The second time they'd had a folder in their arms and I'd watched as Naomi said the name Mia in the same tone of voice that she always said Emily and I saw her lose her heart over a picture of an adorable little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes.

The third time they'd been waving an ultrasound.

* * *

 _Present_  

**BRIIIIING BRIIIIING BRIIIING**

Gina sat bolt upright with a start and pressed her hands to her eyes to try and clear the sleep away. What on Earth was that awful sound? It couldn't be her alarm because it was – she looked over quickly to check – 3:32 in the morning. Unless Keiran had decided that would be a funny joke.

But no, her husband was still fast asleep and snoring on the other side of the bed. So what was it?

The sound came again, this time in a distinctive pattern, and Gina grabbed her bathrobe because she recognized what it was. Only her daughter would ring the doorbell that obnoxiously.

Naomi must have seen her moving through the glass because she didn't even wait for Gina to actually reach the door before she threw it open. She was pale as a ghost and she had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bag over her shoulder and a very sleepy Mia in her arms.

"Hi Gram," Mia wiped her eyes and held out her arms for Gina, who grabbed her from Naomi with a little grunt of effort. As tiny and lightweight as Mia was she was almost at the point where she'd be too big to be carried around like that anymore.

Naomi set down her bag and ran her hands through her hair, somehow managing to make it stick out in a few new directions and make her look that much more like a crazy person. Gina had a pretty good idea of why Naomi was dropping off her granddaughter in the middle of the night looking like somehow had just punched her in the gut several times, and a bubble of excitement grew in her chest.

"It's time then?" she asked happily.

"She just started having the contractions," Naomi answered. Her grin managed to be wonderful and almost maniacally happy despite how freaked out of her mind she looked. "It should be hours yet, though. Remember what we agreed. Mia will stay with you and I'll ring from the hospital when it's almost time, yeah? Her things are in her bag. She's got a change of clothes, some extra pyjamas, her favorite books, oh and her bear you know she can't sleep without him and –"

"NAOMI!"

Naomi jumped and stared at her mother with wide eyes. "What?"

"Please don't act like I haven't watched my granddaughter before," Gina chastised. She smiled gently at her daughter. "Now leave everything to me and go take your wife to the hospital, all right?"

She watched some of the tension drain out of Naomi's shoulders. "All right." She leaned forward and brushed a bit of hair out of Mia's face before she planted a kiss on her forehead. "Be good for Gram, okay little bird?"

"'k," Mia mumbled sleepily. She managed to blink up at Naomi from Gina's arms. "Mum, is Mama having the babies?"

Gina answered instead. "She sure is, sweetheart. Now let's go tuck you into bed and with any luck when you wake up you'll have two new siblings to play with."

"'k," Mia agreed again, in that way that nearly asleep children will agree to just about anything.

"Go," Gina nodded her head towards the door when Naomi just hovered there nervously. "You don't want to miss your kids being born."

"Right. Right!" Naomi jumped and ran back outside to her car, which was still running in the driveway with Emily in the front seat. Even as Gina watched the redhead leaned forward and clutched at her stomach, but it must have passed quickly because she managed a smile and a wave for her mother-in-law.

Gina shifted Mia around a little bit to return the wave and Mia blew a kiss that Emily made a big show of catching and putting on her cheek. She blew one back and Mia did the same thing, so Gina figured it must be a thing between the two of them. After Naomi pulled out of the driveway (looking like she couldn't decide between gunning it to the hospital in as little time as possible and driving like a snail to protect the precious cargo in the front seat) she carried Mia up to Naomi's old room, which had now been thoroughly taken over by her granddaughter.

Mia usually liked to protest being put to bed, but she was unusually quiet as Gina laid her in the bed and tucked the covers snugly around her. She double-checked that the little girl had everything she liked: night-light, bear, a kiss on the forehead. It was only as she went to stand up and leave the room that Mia's hand shot out to grab her sleeve.

"Gram," Mia said quietly. Her face was so serious that it made Gina frown in response. Mia was usually such a happy and energetic child, but there were times when her face looked like this and you realized how quickly she had had to grow up in some ways.

Gina sat back down on the bed immediately. "What's the matter, love?"

"Mama is going to have the babies and when the doctors say it's okay then we get to take them home, right?" she asked anxiously. "Because we love them." She bit her lip in such a Naomi way that it made Gina's heart hurt. Sometimes she had to wonder if there was some cosmic way that this child actually was Naomi and Emily's.

"That's the plan," she said lightly, pinching Mia's side playfully. "Unless you've decided you don't want siblings after all. Although I think it's a little late for that."

Mia squirmed away from the pinch but she didn't giggle like she usually did. "No, I want a brother or sister. Or both," she said quietly. "It's just…we're keeping the babies because we love them. Do you think my not-real parents didn't keep me because they didn't love me?"

All the air left Gina's lungs in a rush. How in the world do you explain to a seven-year-old all the complications that came with having kids? She wracked her brain for the right thing to say, but the problem was there was nothing right to say. She busied herself with tucking the blanket even more tightly around Mia.

"I think," she said slowly, so her brain had time to form the words properly, "that they didn't keep you so Naomi and Emily could love you."

A slow smile spread across Mia's face. This time it reminded Gina inexplicably of Emily. "I like that answer," she said quietly.

Gina stood up and kissed the top of her head. "Me too," she agreed. "Now it's time for bed. I'll wake you up when it's time to go see the babies."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

She was halfway out the door and reaching to switch off the light when she hesitated. "Amelia," she said, and Mia rolled over to look at her. "Why did you call them your 'not-real parents'?" she asked.

Mia gave her a look like she had just asked why the sky was blue or if two plus two equaled four. "Because Naomi and Emily are my real parents," she said like it should be obvious. "Duh."

Gina had to swallow twice around the sudden lump in her throat. "Of course," she said. "Duh. Good night, Mia."

"Night Gram."

Gina shut off the light and went downstairs to make tea and wait until Naomi called…

…which she finally did almost four hours later. Gina packed up an overly excited Mia (who shrieked and literally bounced out of bed when she heard the news, and continued bouncing in the car and at the hospital) and headed out. It took a few tries but eventually the nurses directed her up to the right room. It would have been easy to find anyway, with the entire gang and the Fitches taking up the nearest waiting room.

Mia hugged her Fitch grandparents very quickly and then stood tapping her foot with a look that very clearly said 'and I'm not with my mothers now because?'. Gina chuckled and pushed open the door, making a shushing noise so that Mia remembered to be quiet.

The hospital room was very dimly lit, probably for both the babies and Emily's sake. Mia ran over to the hospital bed where Emily had just opened her eyes. The poor girl looked absolutely knackered but she had a little bundle wrapped up in pink in her arms. Mia scrambled onto the empty chair next to the bed and looked between her mother and the baby with wide eyes. As Gina watched, Emily whispered something to her and then shuffled over to make room on the bed for Mia to lie next to her. She put the baby in Mia's arms and then wrapped her arms around them both to make sure she was holding it right.

A shuffling sound to her left drew her attention to the person she wanted to see the most. Naomi was pacing back and forth in front of the window, swaying the bundle she was holding and humming quietly. Gina walked up quietly so as not to disturb the baby sleeping in his Mum's arms. As she got closer she noticed that two of Naomi's fingers were wrapped up and she chuckled.

Her daughter looked up. Her eyes were tired but her face was glowing. The look on her face…it almost sent Gina into tears again, it reminded her so much of when Naomi would come home from school with an art project. She half-expected Naomi to hold the baby the same way she would hold up those projects, with the same look of pride and happiness, and say _Mum, look what I made._

Naomi followed her mother's eyesight down to her fingers and laughed as well. "Yeah, Ems is pretty strong," she said softly. "I figured I could always milk it for sympathy later."

"Not with childbirth thrown into the mix, you can't," Gina shook her head, still laughing. "Emily wins all the rounds on that one. Wear your injury with pride."

"Oh I will," Naomi agreed. Her eyes kept darting away from her mother and back to the baby in her arms, and then over to Emily and Mia and the other baby, and then back to her arms, and then back to her mother like she just couldn't decide who she wanted to stare at more.

"Do I get to know names?" Gina teased lightly. "Or should I just call them 'you with the face'?"

"That wouldn't even work for both of them," Naomi laughed. "Well, you know that we've had Jason picked out for a while with this one," she said, leaning down and rubbing her cheek against the soft skin of the baby's forehead. She used her head to nod towards the bed where Mia was still entranced with her baby sister. "And Emily thought up the name for her. Sian, because she's our little gift."

"Perfect," Gina agreed. "Now when is it my turn?"

Naomi very carefully passed her son off to Gina, but even when the baby was firmly in his grandmother's arms she still kept a hand on his back.

"Who was first?" Gina asked as she stared wonderingly down at the little person in her arms. All babies were beautiful, of course, but she liked to think that these took the cake for most beautiful little beings in the world. Maybe she was biased.

"He was," Naomi whispered. She ran her finger across the bottom of his little foot where it was poking out of the blanket and chuckled when the baby screwed his face up and twitched it away. "Ticklish on the feet, duly noted."

Gina laughed too. "Well that wasn't very polite of you," she cooed, rocking him back and forth a bit when he started to fuss. "Pushing your sister out of the way like that. We'll just have to teach you some manners, won't we?"

"Cook was ecstatic," Naomi said. "He was relieved there was finally another source of testosterone, I think. 'Too many bloody girls' were his exact words. I told him he wasn't allowed to swear in front of his godson. Isn't that right, little man?" she said lovingly, running a finger down his arm this time and smiling when he grabbed onto her finger.

"I'd like to hold my son sometime in the next century or so," Emily called tiredly from the bed.

"You're just mad that yours is starting to fuss," Naomi quipped back.

"Baby-hog."

Gina handed the baby back without fuss and Naomi obediently brought him over to introduce him to his older sister. Mia looked just as enraptured with him as she did with the baby girl and Gina hung back to give them some time as a family. She smiled as Naomi leaned over two babies and a seven-year-old to kiss Emily deeply for a moment, and Mia didn't even "ewwww" at them this time (probably because she was too busy getting into a staring contest with her new little sister).

 _"The people who make you happiest are never the people you expect. So when you find someone, you've got to cherish it."_

When her daughter climbed onto the bed and attempted to loop her arms around all of them, Gina took it as her time to leave. But not before discreetly taking a picture first.

Some things have to be documented, after all.


	13. Tell Me Your Reasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More songs. Because I was 20. I really can't stress that enough you guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

_Beginning of their last year at Roundview_

Naomi Campbell was the goddamned devil.

Well, okay, she knew that that was her mother's opinion of Naomi on a daily basis, but just at this moment Emily agreed with her. How could she not, with Naomi sitting so close next to her in class and distracting her with the cute way she was biting her lip as she took notes and the sexy way her hair fell into her face when she bent over the desk. Oh and the hand that was currently stroking up and down Emily's thigh. 

Devil woman.

The thing was that she really couldn't afford to not pay attention in English class today. They were reviewing for the test coming up and she'd missed the last two review sessions: the first because Katie and Effy had needed to be bailed out at seven in the morning (she didn't ask) and the second for an undisclosable reason that involved Naomi and a can of whipped cream and very little else and…

…there went her concentration again.

Emily squirmed when Naomi's hand casually reached the top of her jeans and started the slow languid up and down motion all over again. The blonde knew exactly what she was doing too. At least if the wicked little smirk that was now tugging at the corners of her mouth was any indication.

Naomi's fingernails scratched lightly across the denim on her knee and Emily couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it," she hissed, jostling her leg in an effort to get rid of the offending appendage and only managing to slide Naomi's hand closer to the inside of her thigh, which was extremely counter-productive.

Naomi raised an eyebrow, wicked smirk still in place, clearly saying _'Stop what? Whatever could you be talking about?'_.

"I mean it," Emily growled a little louder than she meant to. "Knock it off."

"Miss Fitch do you have anything you would like to inform the class?"

There were some coughs and a few snickers as their classmates momentarily enjoyed the entertainment of another student getting in trouble. Emily winced and threw a quick glare at Naomi (who at least had the decency to look a little guilty).

"No, sir," she answered. "Sorry. Please continue."

"Thank you ever so," their new teacher drawled sarcastically before he turned back to the board. Emily found herself missing Josie a little. She'd even be happy to see Gerald the hand puppet again if it meant this new prick was gone.

Naomi's hand inched over again and Emily very purposefully scooted her chair over a few inches. She spent the next few minutes in blissful note-taking peace before a piece of paper edged into her peripheral vision. Naomi was sliding a note between them.

 _'Doing anything tonight?'_

Emily huffed and quickly jotted out her reply. _'I'm not talking to you.'_

Naomi bit her lip. ' _This isn't talking.'_

She didn't even bother replying to that, Naomi looked entirely too proud of herself. She let it sit long enough for Naomi to figure out she wasn't going to say anything.

 _'I'm sorry. I love you.'_ Naomi wrote out next. _'Are you doing anything tonight, light and love of my life?'_

Emily tapped her pencil against the desk for a long moment before she replied. _'Unless it involves teaching your new neighbors my name I'm not interested.'_

She watched her girlfriend read that twice and frown, seemingly confused, before the lightbulb came on and she blushed so red Emily thought steam might start pouring out of her ears like in some Saturday morning cartoon. She sat back and basked in the feeling of sweet revenge. Across the room Effy snickered like she knew exactly what Emily had just done.

 _'I'm serious!'_ Naomi scrawled out. Her handwriting was a little shakier than before. _'Actual Friday night plans. Do you have them?'_

Emily took a moment to consider this. _'I figured we'd all be doing the usual Friday night stuff.'_

 _'Sex, drugs, and loud music?'_

The redhead had to laugh at the accuracy of that. She managed to turn it into a cough to avoid drawing suspicion. _'You got it.'_

Naomi reached over and brushed their wrists together as she wrote down her reply almost before Emily had finished writing hers.

 _'I could help you with that first one.'_

Emily cast a sideways glance at her girlfriend. Naomi's eyes were a little darker and she had her eyebrow cocked up in a way that got Emily every single time and the other girl knew it. She bit the inside of her cheek.

_'Are you propositioning me, Naomi Campbell?'_

_'Depends on whether or not it's working.'_

The teacher clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and the two of them jumped as they were pulled out of their little bubble of teasing and lust-filled glances.

"Right then," he said loudly and a little too boisterously. "You'll all partner up and go over your review booklets for the rest of the class period today. Not with your table partner," he added with a suspicious glance at Emily and Naomi's table. "You'll partner with the person across the room from you."

Emily looked over and waved at Effy, who waved back. Naomi and Katie rolled their eyes in sync. She stood up to walk over to the brunette's table and took the opportunity to jot down her final comeback.

She purposefully met Naomi's eyes and licked her lips. _'Keep trying.'_

Whatever Naomi was going to reply was lost forever when Katie unceremoniously plopped down in Emily's vacated seat.

"Campbell, stop flirting with my sister and do your job," she said as she shoved her booklet across the table irritably.

Emily started to walk across the room. Naomi's reply followed her.

"Flirting with your sister is my job Katiekins."

She didn't even have to turn around to visualize the innocent little grin Naomi was sporting. It looked like the blonde girl just switched from winding up one Fitch twin to winding up the other.

Effy shook her head as Emily sat down. She looked amused. "One of these days you're just going to kill her," the brunette said in that way Effy had.

"Probably," Emily agreed. "Or marry her. One or the other."

Effy smirked and they both hunched over their booklets for the rest of the class, occasionally interrupted by Naomi and Katie sniping at each other. She and Effy took turns calming the two of them down until finally, thankfully, the bell rang. Hopefully their new teacher had learned his lesson about pairing Katie and Naomi up for anything.

Katie grabbed Effy as soon as the class had cleared out and started dragging her friend towards the door, already talking a few miles a minute about some sale downtown. Effy obviously let this happen because sometimes it was better to just let Katie have her way with things, but Emily's eyes opened wide when Naomi stopped them just as they reached the door.

"Katie!"

They turned around and Katie narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Yes?"

"Think of the story like a gossip mag," Naomi said. "The whole story is about break-ups and hook-ups and fights and the author is just telling it to us through the characters."

As Emily watched her girlfriend and her twin sister stared at each other for a long moment, and then Katie's face cleared and she gave Naomi a grudging smile. "Thanks Campbell." A beat. "Wow, that didn't even leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Give it a minute," Naomi said knowingly.

Katie's face scrunched up. "There it is. Laters, yeah? And I guess I could, you know, cover for you tonight or whatever. Just don't let it go to your head."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Naomi assured her.

Then Katie and Effy were gone and Emily frowned at her girlfriend.

"Cover for us tonight for what?" she asked.

Naomi winked. "You'll see," she said mysteriously.

Emily shook her head at her girlfriend's attempt to be mysterious and started putting her stuff away. The book they were reading hit the side of her bag the wrong way and flew out of her hands. Naomi scooped down to pick it up.

"I hated that chapter," she said as she held the book in her hands.

"Why?" Emily asked. She thought the chapter was good enough. Even a bit romantic for a book that was mostly about who married who and divorced who and who got beheaded by who.

"It's unrealistic," Naomi said simply. She continued on with a quote. " _'You are perfect, flawless, without equal. There is nothing about you that is not full of grace and no part of you that does not enrapture me. You are ideal'_. Nobody is that perfect."

"Are you saying you don't think you could ever find an ideal love?"

Naomi shrugged and leaned back against the table. "Nobody is that perfect," she repeated. "Everybody has something annoying about them."

She didn't seem to realize she was getting into treacherous territory. Emily crossed her arms over her chest. "Even me?" she asked with a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Oh please," Naomi scoffed. "I can name five things that annoy me about you off the top of my head."

The look on Emily's face clearly said that that was the wrong answer but Naomi soldiered on.

"It annoys me that you always have to check doors twice to make sure they're locked at night, even if you saw me lock them," she said. "It annoys me that you constantly leave the tops off shampoo bottles. It annoys me that no matter how many pillows start off on a bed when we fall asleep you manage to knock them all onto the floor before we wake up in the morning. It annoys me that you tell Katie what every single one of our fights are about. It annoys me that you sometimes drink juice straight out of the carton."

"All right then," Emily huffed and snatched the book back from Naomi. "Then I hope being in bed alone isn't too annoying, because it's how you'll be spending your nights for the foreseeable future."

She went to move away but Naomi hooked her fingers into pockets of Emily's jeans and pulled her back. She landed against Naomi with a squeak and immediately tried escape again. Naomi held them together gently.

"I can also name _ten_ things I love about you off the top of my head," she murmured into Emily's ear. The redhead stopped fighting to get away and just stood there stiffly instead, stubbornly refusing to respond when Naomi wrapped her arms around her.

"I love the way you stick your tongue out a little bit when you're concentrating really hard on something," Naomi went on. "I love that you start singing under your breath when you hear a song you like. I love that no matter how often I do it, when I kiss right here," she leaned forward and pressed a ghost of a kiss just underneath Emily's ear and the other girl hummed a little in the back of her throat, "you make that sound. I love that you always lean over to kiss me on the cheek during the happy parts of movies. I love that you let me hide my face in your shoulder during the scary parts and don't tease me for being a chicken-shit afterwards."

Emily started relaxing more and more into Naomi's arms the more the blonde girl kept talking. She had a little smile on her face and a warm feeling curling in the bottom of her stomach. Damn Naomi Campbell for being so infuriatingly sweet.

"I love that you always write down important dates on the calendar in your room so I can check it whenever I'm over, because you know that unless it's something big like an anniversary I'm going to forget it." Naomi moved a bit of hair away from her girlfriend's face and kissed her temple. "I love that you try to warm my feet up with yours when we get into bed at night. I love that you get along with my Mum better than I do sometimes. I love that you always have to do the crossword before you let yourself read the Sunday comics. I love the way you get so lost in a book you forget where you are when you're reading it. I love the feeling I get every single time I kiss you."

Emily leaned forward and kissed her until Naomi had to let go of her and steady herself against the table with her hands. "That was eleven," she said breathlessly when they broke apart.

"I could keep going if you like," Naomi offered with a smile. "Am I still on couch tonight?"

Emily laughed as she allowed herself a quick moment to just enjoy being in Naomi's arms. "No. Although I might have to punish you for pulling that little number."

Naomi wrapped her arms more securely around Emily and kissed the top of her head. "I could be okay with that plan," she said.

Emily lifted her head and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before snuggling into crook of her neck again. "I love you too, you know."

"I know."

"Well as long as you know," Emily murmured into the skin of Naomi's neck. She placed a quick kiss there and then wiggled out of her lover's arms and went about putting her stuff away again.

"So after all that are you finally going to tell me why Katie is covering for us tonight?" she asked.

"Patience, young one," Naomi said, and laughed when Emily stuck her tongue out at her. Naomi grinned at her in the special way she saved just for Emily that lit her entire face up and reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulling out two pieces of white cardboard and handing them to Emily.

Emily had to read them twice before she realized what they were. Concert tickets. "What?" her voice rose at least two octaves in excitement. She stared up at her girlfriend. "I thought these were sold out!"

"They were," Naomi said, looking extremely proud of herself. "After I bought those."

Emily threw her arms around Naomi's neck and dragged her down for a quick kiss before she let go just as quickly and started bouncing around, throwing things haphazardly into her bag. She was halfway out the door before she realized that Naomi was still standing at the desk with a bemused look on her face.

"Well?" she prompted, holding her hand out behind her and wiggling her fingers impatiently. "Are you coming or not?"

Naomi shook her head in wonder at the ball of energy her girlfriend turned into when she was excited and grabbed her bag, letting Emily drag her home.

* * *

They got ready together at Naomi's house (which was surprisingly easy considering the amount of clothes that had somehow migrated from Emily's room to Naomi's closet) giggling and teasing each other like little kids. Gina didn't even try to tone down their levels of energy and excitement. It was like an endless feedback loop between them: Emily would calm down, and then she would catch Naomi's eye and remember that her girlfriend had gone out of her way to get tickets to a concert Emily wanted to see and she remembered that her girlfriend was Naomi Campbell and then she was bouncing on cloud nine again. Naomi, for her part, would pick up on her energy and give it right back, smiling every once in a while because this ball of adorably gorgeous energy was her girlfriend and it was the girl she'd been in love with since she was twelve (not that she would ever tell her that), and it was Emily Fitch and that was amazing to her.

The night was surprisingly warm and a little muggy for September so they wound up walking to the venue (also because asking Emily's parents for their car would blow their cover and asking Kieran meant riding in a car that had a 10 to 1 chance of not even starting up). Bristol seemed to be sleeping. The ground was a little damp from a shower earlier in the day and so everything was wet and shiny, like it was a brand new world waiting for them to explore it. They both knew that the illusion wasn't true and that the next car that drove past would shatter it but for the moment they reveled in spending a quiet moment alone together. Their hands swung loosely between them, keeping them anchored to each other like always.

Emily felt the concert before she saw it. The bass vibrated the ground for several streets around the venue. It traveled up her legs and all the way to the tips of her fingers and she bounced on her toes as the excitement grew all over again.

"You're aware that that's annoying, right?"

She canted her head to the side to half-glare at Naomi. "We already discussed all of the things you find annoying about me," she said. "You can't keep adding things to the list."

Naomi scuffed the toe of her shoe along the ground. "Yes I can," she said.

"Fine. It's annoying how you always have to get your way," Emily countered.

"It's annoying how you always have to have the last word."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Well, your face is annoying."

"Yeah? Well, your Mum is annoying."

The giggle erupted out of Emily's throat before she could stop it. Naomi stopped walking to look at her and the moment their eyes met they both erupted into laughter.

"That was the stupidest, most childish argument we've ever had," Emily said around her giggles.

Naomi was still laughing but she squeezed Emily's hand. Emily squeezed back. "And my Mum _is_ annoying," she added.

* * *

There was something devastatingly sexy about the way Emily Fitch danced.

Naomi had never told anyone this but seeing Emily dance in that club the night that Cook had gotten completely trashed and she and Effy had had to take him home? That had been the turning point for her. Katie was the one who pulled Emily away from Cook only because Naomi herself was feeling so many things at once that it made it impossible for her to move. She had stood rooted to the floor of the club and watched Katie act like a good sister because seeing Emily with Cook had sparked so many feelings that she wasn't used to.

Number one being a combination of possessiveness, jealousy, anger, and fear that she had never felt before in her entire life. Possessiveness because Cook had his hands all over her Emily, jealousy because Cook had his hands all over her Emily, anger because Cook had his hands all over her Emily, and fear because Cook had his hands all over her Emily and yeah, she knew Cook was a nice guy deep down but he shagged everything that moved. And if Emily was willing – if she slept with him and decided she wasn't gay after all – decided that Naomi wasn't worth it – decided that the lake didn't mean anything – decided that all the confusion she'd put Naomi through was for nothing – then Naomi didn't know if she'd be able to take it.

The second feeling was all-consuming lust.

She'd tried to convince herself that the lake was a one-off thing and that all she felt for Emily was friendship. That it was friendship that made her heart beat faster when the other girl smiled at her. Right. Just friendship. That's normal in a friendship.

But seeing Emily dance like that with Cook – seeing Emily dance like that, full stop – there was no denying it.

And all of those feelings came back now in this concert in Bristol. Emily Fitch was adorable when she smiled, sweet when she tried to cheer people up, hilarious when she joked, and ridiculously sexy when she danced.

She pulled Emily by her hips and enjoyed the way it felt to move with her girlfriend, pressed against her body, skin on skin, rocking back and forth to the beat. She tried to enjoy it and ignore the looks they were getting.

Because that's what she hated. The looks. Couples danced like this all the time in clubs and at concerts, hell a few of them were doing so right now, and unless they were actually having sex on the dance floor then they never got a second glance. She hated that people felt like they should stare at them. But she loved Emily, and she loved the way it felt when she danced with Emily, and so she'd finally built up an immunity to the looks. She barely felt them anymore.

She still flipped off the guy over to the right though. There was looking and there was leering.

"I'm going to go get us some drinks," she half-yelled in Emily's ear. Her girlfriend smiled at her and nodded and just went on dancing while Naomi unwrapped her arms from around her and started pushing her way through the crowd.

The line for drinks was longer than she expected and by the time she got back she was sure at least two songs had been played all the way through. She scanned the crowd with her eyes, looking for that tell-tale flash of red that indicated her girlfriend. Emily's hair was awfully convenient in a crowd. Just as she stepped back into the room the main singer announced they were slowing it down for the second to last song of the night. The other band members picked up their instruments and a soft, sweet little song started playing. Everyone paired off, grabbed their partners and wrapped them up.

Naomi stood and watched Emily watch the couple closest to where they had been dancing. She could see the hint of longing in Emily's eyes even across the room and it hurt her heart that she couldn't make it go away. This was one of those times where Naomi wished she had Emily's level of bravery, but she was still scared about some things and she knew the look she'd get if she walked over and pulled Emily into her arms the way she wanted to.

So she pretended to still be getting drinks and called herself a coward until the song was over, and when she walked up to Emily the redhead smiled at her like nothing was wrong.

* * *

It was Emily who broke the silence of their walk home. "Did you really mean what you said earlier?" she asked.

Naomi felt herself frown as she tried to think back to what Emily could possibly be referring to. "Specify?" she requested when she couldn't figure it out.

"About ideal love not existing."

Oh. Was that something that was really bothering her? Naomi glanced at Emily out of the corner of her eye and saw that she was looking at the ground with a tiny frown tugging the corners of her mouth downwards. She ran her fingers down the sleeve of Emily's jacket until she reached Emily's hand and laced their fingers together.

"Nothing's ever perfect," she said finally, her mind racing back to a talk she'd had with Effy once and, more recently, to things that happened over the summer she wanted to forget entirely. "You get way too hyperactive when you're excited, and Katie will always be part of our relationship whether I like it or not, and you don't stop pushing when you think you're right about something." She paused to let her words catch up with her thoughts. "But neither do I. Plus I always look at the bad side of things and I snap at people when I'm hungry."

"And you never put your clothes in a hamper," Emily added. But she was smiling again, albeit a small one.

"And I never put my clothes in a hamper," Naomi conceded. "So neither of us are what you would call an ideal love but, I don't know, I think we're sort of each other's ideal love. We're perfect in our imperfections." The alcohol in her system made her feel warm despite the cold and her whole body was buzzing (or maybe that was just the effect Emily had on her). Words were just spewing out unheeded. She tried to get them to stop. "Shit, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Ignore me."

"No, I think I get it," Emily said quickly when Naomi started to get embarrassed. She was squeezing Naomi's hand so hard the grip was almost painful. "Sort of a key to a lock thing, right? Not all keys fit into all locks and sometimes there are keys that fit into locks fine but won't turn. You have to find the pieces that fit together." She smiled. "We fit together."

"Yeah," Naomi swallowed against the heaviness in her chest. She shrugged and kept her eyes steadily forward. "Besides. I feel more like myself with you than I ever have with anyone else so," she gave Emily a half-smile, "that's got to count for something, right?"

"Right."

The sky decided that was the perfect moment to open up around them. Emily shrieked in surprise as the rain started to downpour and Naomi grabbed her hand and ran them towards some shelter she could just see in the middle of the park. It was an old gazebo; the paint was peeling and the inside was filled with leaves and debris and even an old radio, but the roof didn't have any holes in it and it held off the rain. Naomi dragged them into it.

"Jesus Christ!" she swore aggressively. "I thought it wasn't supposed to rain tonight!"

Emily shrugged out of her jacket and laid it across one of the benches to dry. "It wasn't," she said. "I guess that must have changed."

"Obviously." Naomi bit her tongue to stop any other scathing responses from coming out of her mouth. This was supposed to be a nice night and Emily didn't deserve to be snapped at just because her plans were falling through.

They both sat and huddled together as the rain refused to let up outside and, in fact, seemed to actually get heavier.

"I'm sorry," she said after a while. Emily looked so confused that she felt the need to clarify. "That I wasn't there to dance with you during that song."

Emily just shrugged it off and Naomi got the feeling all was already forgiven and that everything was okay. That was the great thing about Emily, when she was over something she was over it and she had endless patience with every time Naomi managed to screw up.

But no, it wasn't okay. Naomi had the sudden and unrelenting urge to make it up to her immediately, and without really thinking about it her eyes snapped over to the old radio she'd noticed earlier. A smile tugged up the corners of her mouth and she stood up.

"What are you doing?"

Naomi ignored her and dragged the radio out from underneath the bench. It wasn't as old as she'd previously thought, just sort of beat up. The battery cover was missing but it still had batteries inside and the light on the front turned on when she clicked a few buttons. At first nothing came out of the speakers, but she smacked it a few times and music started to flow out of it.

"Something in your eyes makes me wanna lose myself, makes me wanna lose myself in your arms. There's something in your voice, makes my heart beat fast. Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life." 

When Naomi turned around to look at Emily again she was already standing, her arms hanging down by her sides and her eyes bright as she watched her.

"What are you doing?" she asked again as Naomi walked over to her, but something about the way she was smiling with so much delight made Naomi think she already knew the answer.

Naomi held out her hand. "I'm asking my girlfriend to dance with me," she said.

 _"If you knew how lonely my life has been, and how long I've been so alone. If you knew how I wanted someone to come along, and change my life the way you've done."_

"You want to dance in a gazebo in the rain?" Emily asked so quietly that she almost missed it over the sound of the storm.

Naomi refused to let her smile waver. "Too cheesy?" she asked.

Emily shook her head. "Just cheesy enough," she said, and she slipped her hand into Naomi's and let her girlfriend pull her into her arms.

 _"It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me…"_

She relished the feeling of having Emily in her arms, every single time that she was there, because there had been a time when she had watched from afar and never dreamed that Emily would be there. To think now that there was a time not so long ago when she wasn't able to hold Emily so close that she could feel her heartbeat was surreal. Emily was made to fit into her arms. There was no other place that she belonged.

 _"It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from."_

Emily's skin was warm against the cold of the rain-soaked air and she was smiling where she had rested her forehead against Naomi's shoulder as they swayed.

"You're going to have to tell me where you've been hiding this romantic side of you," Emily said.

"In a box in my attic," she quipped, and was rewarded with her favorite laugh.

 _"It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me."_

"I love you," Emily voice barely rose above the pounding of the raindrops.

Naomi buried her face in Emily's hair and knew she was ruined forever, because there was no way she'd ever love anyone else as much as she loved Emily Fitch.

 _"It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong."_

When the song ended Emily reached up and pulled Naomi down for a kiss that went on for long after the rain had stopped drumming down on the roof above their heads.

* * *

_Present Day_

Emily very carefully tuned out the man talking her ear off and took another sip of water. It wasn't that she didn't want to be at this work dinner (except, you know, she didn't want to be at this work dinner), it was just that it was the first time that Naomi hadn't been with her for one of these dinners and whispering a running commentary in her ear on every person in the room that was annoying her. This wouldn't be so bad if it was just a dinner with the teachers from her school, but it was every school in the district getting together and mingling, "sharing ideas" supposedly, but all that seemed to involve was a lot of very annoying people mixed in with the ones she got along with and that included this man who either honestly couldn't see the ring on her finger or willfully ignored it.

She wondered idly how long it would be before she could leave without being rude. It was also the first time in the two months since the babies were born that she had left home without at least one of them. She wouldn't have come at all if this wasn't obligatory. She'd been here a few hours now and by this point all she wanted to do was go home, kiss her kids goodnight, and cuddle with Naomi on the couch. Was that too much to ask?

Her boss must have noticed how badly she was itching to leave because she caught Emily's eye and made the universal hand motion for 'you can go now'. Emily smiled gratefully and put her glass down.

"I'm sorry," she interrupted the man smoothly, "but I have to get back home to my wife."

She left him blinking his surprise, gathered her coat, and was in her car in record time. It started raining halfway home and really started to come down in buckets by the time she was unlocking her door.

It swung open into a quiet house. You would almost think it was empty except for the sound of a television playing in the living room. Emily hung up her coat to dry and walked towards the living room where she had to stop and look at the scene before her. She leaned against the doorway and brought her hand up to her mouth to contain the rush of happiness.

The TV was on but no one in the room was awake to watch it. Mia had obviously had control of the remote because some sort of cartoon was playing but the girl herself was asleep on a blanket spread out on the floor, her body completely curled up around Jason as the two-month-old baby slept peacefully on the blanket. Naomi was lying on her back on the couch, fast asleep with her arm protectively across Sian, who was asleep on her chest.

Mia's eyes blinked open and her face brightened when she saw Emily standing in the doorway.

"Hi Mama," she said softly so she didn't wake the baby. "Is your thing over?"

"Yeah, my thing is over," Emily said just as quietly. She bent down and scooped up her son, carefully shushing him when he started to fuss about being moved. She grinned when she saw that Naomi had put them in the little matching onesies that JJ had gotten them, where one said Ctrl+C and the other said Ctrl+V and Naomi just thought it was the most amusing thing ever. She brought him upstairs to his crib.

Naomi opened her eyes and blinked up at her wife blearily when Emily carefully lifted her arm away from Sian and picked up the baby to bring her upstairs as well.

"I got her," Emily said before she could protest. She kissed Naomi's forehead. "Go back to sleep."

But she was halfway down the stairs when she heard the music that told her Naomi hadn't gone back to sleep at all.

 _"A window breaks down a long dark street, and a siren wails in the night. But I'm all right 'cause I have you here with me, and I can almost see through the dark there is light."_

The television was off and the radio was on instead, and she stood in the doorway and watched as Naomi moved around the room with Mia in her arms.

 _"Well if you knew how much this moment means to me, and how long I've waited for your touch. And if you knew how happy you are making me, I never thought I'd love anyone so much."_

Mia grinned as Naomi twirled around and she saw Emily. "Mama!" she unwrapped one arm from around Naomi's neck and held it out to Emily. "We're dancing! Come dance with us!"

Emily blinked back happy tears and tucked herself underneath Naomi's arm as her wife held it open for her. It was a little awkward trying to dance with three people, but Mia looked so happy pinned between them that she wouldn't have moved for the world.

Naomi's eyes were bright when they met hers above Mia's head and Emily's heart burst into a million pieces of loved-up confetti when Naomi mouthed the words along to the song.

 _"It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me. It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from. It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me. It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong."_

She sighed happily and leaned her head against Mia's back.

_"It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong."_


	14. Help Me With Milestones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins greet Emily with a surprise. Mia is the best as per usual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

"Okay, so everything should be fine. If you have any problems call your mum. Or my mum. Someone's mum should be able to help." Emily glanced around their master bedroom, a half-open overnight bag in one hand and the other threaded through her hair. She bit her lip. "And I should be back around five tomorrow."

Naomi rolled her eyes and gently took the bag from Emily's hand. She set it down on the floor and tugged on Emily's wrist until her wife moved close enough that she could wrap her arms around her.

"Emily, sweetheart, love of my life," she said slightly mockingly. She rested her forehead against Emily's and couldn't stop her smirk. "You're bringing Mia to a dance recital, not traveling to the other end of the country."

Emily smiled ruefully. "I'm being a bit ridiculous, aren't I?"

"A bit," Naomi agreed. She kissed Emily very quickly and grinned when she pulled away. "It's kind of cute."

Emily wriggled out of her arms. "Don't you start with me, Campbell. That's how we got three kids in the first place."

"Pretty sure that wasn't completely my fault."

"Please stop flirting so we can go," a plaintive voice interrupted from the hall. Emily laughed and Mia grinned, looking inordinately proud of herself.

Mia was two months away from eight and had hit a growth spurt that added an inch and made her a little lanky. Her dirty blonde hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail. She had one hand on her hip. Gina said she looked like Naomi did at that age, which was biologically impossible but made all of them smile anyway, and she'd just gotten into dance. She'd taken her nickname to heart, flying across the dance floor and often making up her own dances outside of class. She had a captive audience for the impromptu performances she put on in the form of the twins, who weren't quite one and hadn't gotten the hang of the whole walking thing yet.

"Who taught you what the word flirting means?" Naomi challenged.

"I'm almost eight," Mia said, as if that explained everything. It probably did, in some weird way.

Emily's face scrunched up as she gave that some thought. "Well, you better not be doing any. Until you're at least fifteen."

"Or thirty," Naomi corrected.

"Or thirty."

"Ew," Mia's face scrunched up in just the same way Emily's had. "Boys are gross. I don't want to flirt with them." She looked between her parents and her frown deepened. "I don't want to flirt with girls either."

Naomi had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Okay. Thank you for covering all your bases on that one. Now will you please go? You're going to be late." She picked the bag Emily had packed off the floor and shepherded the two of them out of the room before her. Mia bounded down the stairs two at a time and landed with a flourish at the end of the steps. She only wobbled a little.

Emily laughed and ruffled her hair when they reached the bottom. Mia ducked her head away and pouted.

"I give it a five out of ten." Naomi said mock-seriously. "You didn't quite stick the landing."

"Mama," Mia whined. "Mum is being mean to me."

"Naomi, don't be mean to Mia," Emily called from the living room where she was saying goodbye to the napping babies.

"She started it."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Honestly," Emily sighed as she walked into the foyer and crossed her arms. She shook her head at them. "How many children do I have in this house?"

"Three children and one very adult wife, who promises that nothing will be on fire or broken when you get home. The twins will be perfectly okay and there might even be dinner in the oven if I'm feeling adventurous." Naomi grinned and kissed Emily lightly. "Cross my heart, pinky-promise that everything will be okay. Which you don't seem to believe since I know you've asked Katie to spy on me."

Emily's grin widened and she cupped Naomi's face and stood on her tiptoes so she could kiss her more firmly. "I know you'll be fine. I'm just nervous being so far away."

Naomi looped her arms around Emily's waist and pulled her closer. "You're suffering from separation anxiety worse than they are."

That was the current problem that they were having with the twins. They'd just realized, in their developing little brains, that they were separate people from Emily and Naomi. This was exciting to them at first. Sian alone spent half an hour in front of the mirror in Mia's room just touching the cool glass and cooing at herself. They then seemed to realize, however, that being separate meant that Mama or Mummy could leave. This caused them a great amount of distress, especially since, though they had realized their parents could leave them alone, they hadn't yet figured out that they would always come back.

Naomi smiled. "It's four hours by train. I could take Mia if you want?"

"No, you took her last time." She buried her face in the crook of Naomi's neck and nuzzled the skin there. "Be good. Don't destroy the house."

"I will try my sincere hardest not to do both. I mean. To do the first and not the second. Um, I promise you will come home to a standing house?"

Emily giggled into her shoulder. "Don't get hurt. And don't let the kids get hurt. I don't really care about the house." She lifted herself up to steal one more kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too. Married you because of it. Or something. Might have had some kids along the way. Not sure, since I don't seem to see any around."

"Ugh, parents kissing. Gross." Mia skipped back in and grabbed at Emily's hand. "You can kiss her all you want later, we have to go!"

Naomi laughed as Mia dragged Emily out of the house and waved from the front door as they both piled into the car. Mia blew a kiss to her and she blew one back. She watched until the car had turned the corner and was out of sight, before she closed the door and turned around to lean against it.

There was a small moment when she had time to enjoy the silence of the household around her. It lasted about two seconds before one of the babies started crying.

She kicked off her shoes and shuffled very quickly into the living room to make the least amount of noise possible. It was something she'd learned about sleeping babies early on. Make the least amount of noise, move slowly, and don't show any fear. Basically, you treated a sleeping baby the same way you treated a bomb you didn't want to go off.

Actually, that was probably a horrible thing to compare her children to.

The twins were asleep in the playpen in the living room. Well, Sian was asleep. Jason had his face scrunched up in a little red ball of anger. His fists were clenched and he was waving them around like smacking the air could make whatever was wrong go away. She bent down and scooped him expertly into her arms and moved away from the playpen. Miraculously, he hadn't woken his sister, and she wanted to keep it that way.

She bounced him gently up and down and rubbed his back. "Shhhhh," she murmured. His tears quieted but didn't go away completely.

"C'mon, little man, be a good boy for Mummy," she begged him. She reached up and brushed back a piece of his light brown hair. Emily had been so disappointed the twins weren't immediately blonde, and had only quieted when she'd been assured that hair could lighten over time. It could darken too, though, and Naomi kind of liked their brown hair. It was Emily's genes that made it so. They also had her chin, and the shape of her eyes. Sian had her nose. Jason had her ears.

He quieted down to snuffles and leaned back in her arms so he could look at her face. Clear blue eyes not unlike her own looked up at her with absolute trust.

It was a big thing to realize that you were the center of someone's world. Not just the way that Emily was the center of her world, but in the way that this little person, this tiny human being that was a part of her the same way that her heart was, was dependent on her for everything. Sometimes she got scared thinking about the fact that she was responsible for raising these children. She was partly responsible for what they grew up to become, and partly to blame for mistakes that they made. Then she remembered that Emily was, too. That they were partners in this. That made it better; made it easier to handle.

And really, anything that was a part of Emily Fitch could never turn out less than perfect.

"Hi," she said to him. "Can you say hi to me?" She kind of mumbled it, actually, since he'd reached up and grabbed at her bottom lip. "Mu," he said to her. She leaned forward and nuzzled the soft skin of his cheek with her own. "Close enough."

She puffed her cheeks out and he giggled. He patted her cheeks with his tiny hands and his giggles turned into a stream of laughter when she blew a gust of wind in his face.

She rocked him gently back and forth in her arms as she walked back to the living room. Leaving Sian alone for any amount of time, even sleeping, made her nervous.

"We're _going_ to _be_ fine," she said to him. Every other word bounced along with the child in her arms.

Her mothering instincts were proven correct when she walked into the room and Sian was awake. She was standing in the playpen and peeking out over the top with curious blue eyes, but she wasn't crying yet. Naomi took that as a good sign.

Sian lifted her arms up and cooed. Jason protested loudly about being put down, however, so Naomi had to bend over and pick her up with one arm. She wobbled a bit and almost fell before she righted herself triumphantly.

She looked down at the babies in her arms and grinned. "We got this."

When Cook showed up three hours later there was baby food all over Sian's shirt, in Jason's hair, and on Naomi's jeans, but the house hadn't burned down. That could only be seen as a plus. Naomi waved him into the kitchen with one hand and made airplane noises for the spoonful of applesauce in her other one.

Multi-tasking, man. She was a pro.

"I'm bloody impressed," he said as he jumped up to sit on the table.

Naomi fed Jason the sauce and put the spoon down on the tray in front of him before she turned around and punched Cook in the leg. Cook winced and rubbed at the spot.

"What was that for?" he complained.

"Swearing in front of my kids or implying that I can't take care of them. Choose one."

He scowled at her and then laughed when Jason picked up the spoon and threw it at her. It hit her in the shoulder. Jason looked simply delighted.

"No." Naomi grabbed his hand gently but firmly and pointed it towards the spoon on the floor. "We don't throw things. Bad."

Cook used Sian's bib to wipe some excess sauce off of her chin. He was still laughing. Naomi pointed Jason's finger at Cook instead. "And we don't laugh at that, Uncle Cook."

"Right, sorry." Cook schooled his face into seriousness. "It's not funny at all." The corners of his mouth twitched with the effort it took for him to keep a straight face.

"Prick," Naomi said under her breath.

"Don't swear in front of the kiddos, Naomikins."

"What are you even doing here?" she asked.

"Could've been Katie. Pick yer poison."

Naomi picked the spoon up off the floor, checked to make sure the children were looking in another direction, and threw it at Cook. It hit him in the ear. Naomi was not impressed; she'd been aiming for his forehead. He scowled at her and used the spoon as a middle finger to flip her off.

Sian giggled and slapped her hands down on the tray so that applesauce splattered in different directions. Obviously she was pleased with this reaction because she did it again. Jason looked at the applesauce on his hand with great curiosity, like he was wondering if his would do the same thing.

"Okay! That's enough of that!" Naomi jumped up and quickly worked at the clasps that held Sian into her highchair. It took two tries because it was coated with sticky juice but eventually she got her daughter up into her arms. Sian looked forlornly down at the tray and then back up at Naomi like, Mummy, why did you take me away from the fun squishy stuff?

"Naomikins, these kids need baths," Cook said. He'd picked up Jason for her and he winced when the toddler pulled on his ear and giggled. Naomi snorted and shook her head as she led them both to the upstairs bathroom.

"No, really? I was just going to throw them into bed and let them marinate in that."

"I'm telling Katie you said that."

She pushed Sian into his arms and started up the bath. The sounds of him fumbling behind her made her smile, because she knew he'd fall before he dropped her children. She couldn't help but laugh when she turned around and saw that Jason was still pulling on his ear and Sian was bopping him in the nose with a tiny fist.

"Quit laughing and help me!" he yelped.

Naomi carefully pried Sian out of his arms and sat her down on the counter. "Uncle Cook is just a big grumpy-pants today, isn't he?" she asked quietly. Sian giggled and rocked backwards. Naomi quickly put her hand behind her daughter's head to keep her from hitting the wall. She peeled the sticky clothes off of her toddler and deposited her into her bath seat. Sian immediately grabbed a toy duck and hit it against the wall.

"That kid is gonna destroy the world," Cook said as he handed her a similarly unclothed Jason. He picked up the clothes covered in applesauce, made a face, and deposited them into the sink.

Naomi carefully pried the duck away from Sian when she started throwing it at her brother. Mellow little Jason was completely unfazed by all of this, and just smiled up at her when she lathered soap onto a loofa and began to clean him off.

"I bet this is what our girls were like as toddlers," she grumbled.

Cook heaved himself up onto the counter and laughed. "Probably. Katie's still kind of like that. Remember the Love Ball?"

"How could I forget? I still have the scar."

"She didn't scar you," Cook snorted.

"You can't see psychological scars, mate."

Cook laughed again and Sian did too. He made a face at her and she giggled and splashed water towards her Uncle Cook. It only hit the side of the tub and she looked disappointed.

"Yeah, well, you got over it. Enough to marry her sister."

Naomi laughed under her breath. "It would have taken a lot more than Katie Fitch's right hook to stop me from marrying Emily." She looked over her shoulder to see him fiddling with his phone. "Telling Katie I'm trying to drown her niece and nephew?" she quipped.

"Nah, that was earlier." He laughed when she discreetly flipped him off behind her back. "JJ's keepin' me updated on his big date tonight. Think he's gonna pop the question to Lara."

"Whoo!" Naomi raised both of Jason's hands in a celebratory gesture. He blew bubbles at her. "Go Uncle Jay!"

Cook shook his head. "Just more proof we're too domesticated now, Naomikins. You've got kids, Jaykins is settling down, I want to ask Katie to marry me, Karen has a job at a bank."

Naomi stopped trying to give Jason a mohawk with the shampoo and turned to face Cook. There was something suspicious slipped into the sentence. One of those things was not like the other.

"You want to ask Katie to marry you?" she asked.

Cook actually looked a little sheepish as he scratched at the back of his head. "Well, I mean...yeah. We've been together for a while and, I dunno, she's always wanted like the whole deal, yah know? Two kids and a big house and a dog. And I..."

"Want to give it to her?"

"Yeah. I really do." He threw a towel at her. "Stop fucking smirking at me, Campbell!"

Naomi twisted herself around so she could lift her leg and kick him in the shin. "Language! If one of them drops the f-bomb when Emily comes home I'm blaming you."

Cook jumped off the counter and kissed his fingertips before he pressed them against Sian's ears. "Sorry, mini-Naoms." Sian didn't seem bothered by it. She threw soap in his hair.

Naomi finished rinsing the soap off of Jason and moved onto her daughter, who was much more aggravated about it than her brother. She tried to bat Naomi's hands away and started crying when Naomi gently but firmly washed the soap out of her hair.

"So," Naomi said above the wails. "You want to propose to Katie?"

"Yeah," she could hear Cook shuffling around behind her. "Any tips?"

"I really don't have the best track record of dealing with Katie, except maybe now my ducking reflexes are way better."

Cook snorted. "Yeah, got those covered. How'd you propose to Emilio?"

"I asked her to stay with me forever."

"That's sweet."

"In French."

"F-ow-racking he-ow-eck, Naomi! How am I supposed to match up to that. Bl-ow-imey - STOP KICKING ME!"

Naomi finished rinsing the last bit of shampoo out of Sian's hair and lifted her out of the bathtub. The little girl whined and complained until she was wrapped up in the towel that Cook held out. Jason chewed quietly on his toy boat as Naomi picked him up and wrapped him up as well, then she carried them out of the bathroom with a child in each arm. Cook held the doors open for her.

She handed Sian off to Cook, who sat down in the rocking chair in the corner of the twins' room, and toweled Jason dry. She ruffled his fluffy hair and he giggled and reached up to try to do the same to her. She leaned over so he could reach and immediately regretted the decision when he grabbed a handful of hair and tugged instead. Naomi winced and carefully pried his little fist open.

"I don't really have any advice for you," she said as she pulled Jason's dinosaur footsie pyjama's on and buttoned them up. Cook was quiet in the corner, probably still steaming over being kicked so many times. "You'd be better off talking to Emily."

She put Jason down in the corner next to his crib to play and held her arms out for Sian. Cook handed her over quickly, before she could continue pulling at his fingernails.

"I can't ask Red to keep something like that from her sister," Cook said seriously. "I've got an idea I just...want it to be nice for Katie."

Naomi bit her lip as she struggled to get Sian's arms into her pyjamas. The little girl kept pulling them out so she could play with the bottles lining the changing table. This was not an unusual occurrence. Naomi was very adept at wrangling her daughter's wandering arms.

"Your idea is probably perfect," she told him. "But why don't you run it by me after the monsters go to sleep and I'll tell you what -"

"Naomikins, I think you're about to miss something important over here."

Naomi whipped her head around. One of Jason's toys was on a shelf above his head a few feet away and he had grabbed onto the bottom of his crib to pull himself up. He was eyeing the toy and his feet with equal curiosity, like he was putting two and two together. He swayed forward a little and almost let go of the crib.

She finished buttoning Sian up at lightning speed and put her down on the floor. "No no no no no," she said, holding out her hands. Jason looked at her. "Do not, I repeat, do not walk when your Mama isn't here, okay baby boy?" He blinked at her. "If your Mama found out she missed your first steps she'd kill Mummy, so just...don't. Okay? Okay. Good talk."

He blinked at her again and obediently fell back onto his butt and pointed towards the toy. He garbled a bit of nonsense but she heard the word 'want' in there so she got it for him. It was a stuffed elephant. She handed it to him.

Jason was the first to get tucked into bed. Being the mellower child meant that he was less likely to attempt to escape while she was putting his sister down. Sian was surprisingly docile when Naomi tucked her in. Naomi shooed Cook out of the room as she settled a blanket around the two of them. They'd have to break this habit of sleeping together eventually, but not tonight.

She turned on the stars and planets mobile above their heads and listened to it chime softly for a moment. Sian followed the movement of the arms with sleepy eyes. Jason was focused on Naomi.

"Storytime for my two favorite babies?" she asked softly. She traced the outline of Jason's face with a finger and he smiled. Sian grabbed for her wrist when she went to pull it away. She didn't want to break the moment by turning away to get a book, but there was one that Mia liked to read to them and Naomi knew it by heart.

"Once there was a baby star. He lived up near the sun. And every night at bedtime that baby star wanted to have some fun. He would shine and shine, and fall and shoot and twinkle oh so bright. And he said, 'Mummy, I'll run away if you make me say good-night'. And then his mummy kissed his sparkly nose and said, 'No matter where you go, no matter where you are, no matter how big you grow and even if you stray far, I'll love you forever. Because you're always my baby star."

With both twins safely asleep and the baby monitor turned on, she kissed them both on the forehead and whispered goodnight before going downstairs. Cook was already in the kitchen with two bottles of beer in his hands. He offered one to her.

"So your advice is go with my gut instinct with Katie, and if I play my cards right I'll be doing what you just did in a few years?" he asked.

Naomi accepted the beer gratefully and popped off the top. "Pretty much."

* * *

Mia literally danced into the living room the next day. She rose up onto the ball of one foot and performed a smooth turn, using her mother as a spot, before proudly holding up her third place trophy in both hands. Naomi clapped enthusiastically. Sian let out a garbled yell and Jason fell to the side because he was concentrating so hard on clapping like his Mummy. Naomi figured that meant they were proud too.

Mia lost all of that grace a second later when she threw her arms around Naomi's neck. Naomi laughed and lifted her up off the ground. The trophy was digging into her back a little and Mia was kind of loud in her ear saying, "Mum I placed! I placed third", but it was delightful all the same. Naomi turned her mega-watt grin on Emily when she struggled through the door a moment later.

"She was great," Emily said, slightly out of breath, when she put their bags down. "The judges were really impressed."

Naomi gave Mia one last squeeze and put her down. "Well, the twins were -" Emily cleared her throat and Naomi backtracked, "Jason and Sian were fine, and they are their own people, which is why we use separate names for them."

Emily smirked and stood up on her toes to give Naomi a kiss. "You're really whipped, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know," Naomi sighed.

"You love me anyway?"

"Obviously."

Mia made a face when they kissed again and wiggled her way in between them, demanding attention. "Mum, Mama, look!"

They looked. Jason was hanging onto the side of the couch and staring at Emily. He let go with one hand and made a little 'I want' gesture towards her. Emily started to go over to him but Naomi wrapped an arm around her waist and stopped her.

She handed Mia her phone. "Here, little bird. You know how to record on this?"

"Duh," Mia scoffed.

"Of course," Naomi rolled her eyes. "Duh. How could I ever have thought otherwise."

After she was sure Mia was recording she knelt down and pulled Emily down with her. She held out her hand. "Come here, Jase. Come see Mummy."

Jason let go of the couch and wobbled. He just made grabbing motions with both hands then, and Emily almost went forward again, but Naomi tugged her back. "He can do it," she whispered.

He took one step forward and Emily made a little squeaking noise. Naomi felt heat prick at the back of her eyes and she bit her lip. He took two more and gurgled happily when Emily came forward so that he only had to take one more clumsy step before he fell into her arms. She cuddled him to her chest and rained kisses on his face.

"My wonderful, handsome little man," she cooed to him. "My brave boy. Mama loves you."

Mia had the phone pointed at the armchair now. Sian had watched her brother the entire time and now, without preamble, she stood up and started to walk. She took two steps before she tumbled. This didn't seem to deter her at all, since she was up again a second later. As soon as she was close enough she shrieked and latched onto Emily's leg. Emily opened her arms to gather Sian into the hug too. She lavished praise on both of them.

"Some homecoming," Emily choked out. The tears in her eyes made the giant smile on her face waver slightly.

Naomi leaned forward and kissed the side of her head. And then she kissed the top of Jason and Sian's heads. And then she grabbed Mia and tickled her just because she could.

Emily was home and everything was fine in her world. Actually, everything was rather perfect.


	15. Give Me Your Permission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actual human puppy Mia wants an actual furry puppy as a pet. Naomi is a pushover again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me to transfer all of these stories over from ff.net and I'm nothing if not dedicated so here it is.

Mia created a PowerPoint about why she should be allowed to have a puppy.

"You know I'm actually rather impressed," Naomi said as they looked it over in bed that night. Emily tabbed over to the next slide: a detailed account of how much it would cost to feed a puppy for a month. "I'm still going to say no but the amount of attention to detail is definitely impressive."

Emily snorted. "Why are we going to say no?"

Naomi whipped her head around to look at her wife in disbelief. Emily was watching her carefully. "Um…because we already have three kids? And I like the backyard the way it is: sans dog poop." She watched as Emily tabbed over again to another slide, this one a list of all the psychological benefits of a child owning a dog at a young age, and she literally saw Emily's heart start to melt a little bit. "No. No, Em. We can't. No."

"We could."

"But we really can't."

Emily just looked at her with those big brown eyes and her bottom lip stuck out just the tiniest bit. Naomi narrowed her eyes. "Why are you so keen on this dog?" she asked suspiciously.

The computer almost toppled off their combined laps as Emily fidgeted with the comforter. "Because I may have told her that she could get one if she convinced you to say yes," she said, her voice guilty but her eyes sparkling.

"EMILY!"

Emily just laughed and reached over to brush a bit of hair out of Naomi's face and cupped Naomi's jaw, bringing her forward for a kiss. "Why don't you want a dog?"

"It'll make a mess."

"Which Mia will clean up because it'll be her pet. Next?"

"It'll be a lot of work."

"Still Mia's problem."

"The twins…"

"Are two years old and love to play with Thomas and Panda's dog. Want to try again?"

Naomi sighed and pulled her head out of Emily's hands. "No," she said, closing the laptop and carefully putting it over the edge of the bed. She sighed. "I'm just still not sure."

Emily's answering smile was mischievous. She looped her arms around Naomi's neck and gently kissed her cheek. "Think about how happy the kids will be, though," she said.

Naomi gulped when she kissed the corner of mouth and then continued along her jaw. "Think of Mia's little smile…" a kiss just below her ear, and then the brush of her lips down the column of Naomi's throat. "Think of how happy your loving wife will be." Naomi gulped harder as Emily leaned over to pull her into a deep kiss, nipping at her bottom lip as she pulled away and steadied herself with a hand on Naomi's thigh.

"You're playing dirty, Fitch," Naomi said breathily.

Emily hooked her leg over Naomi's and used the leverage to pull herself into her wife's lap. "Not yet," she promised.

* * *

Naomi said yes the next day.

Mia shrieked so loudly she woke Sian up from her nap and when she hugged her parents Naomi had trouble breathing for a second.

"We're letting an eight-year-old have a dog. How could this ever go wrong?" Naomi grumbled to herself.

To be fair, Mia was taking her new responsibilities very seriously. It'd been two weeks since Naomi had said yes and they didn't even have a dog yet: instead Mia had packed up on puppy training books, and toys, and a dog bed that Naomi was sure was never going to be used. If she wasn't doing homework or at dance practice she was nose-deep in a puppy training book.

Emily, weirdly enough, seemed to be just as excited. It was Emily who poured over ads in the newspapers and online looking for anyone selling puppies in the area.

"We never had the chance to have pets when we were kids," Emily told her when Naomi had asked her about it one night. "It'll be nice to give Mia something I wanted but never got."

Naomi's little bit of resistance melted after that. Seriously, she could maybe say no to Mia's pleading face. Maybe. On a good day. But Mia and Emily? She was toast. They'd even gotten the babies involved. Jason pointed to a dog the other day and asked, "Mine?"

(They were only a little over two. Literally everything was "Mama", "Mum", "sissy", or "mine". Usually asked as a question.)

All of Emily's searching had brought them here, to a very small house about twenty minutes away from their own, with an equally small backyard that nonetheless held a wire enclosure in the corner with five little bouncy masses of white fur. Emily took Mia over to the corner to look at them while Naomi stayed by the twins in their carriage and talked with the owner.

"My Husky over there, she had a bit of a love affair with the Great Pyrenees down the road," he explained, scratching at the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Your girl likes one of them she can have it. Free to a good home."

Said mother dog was following Mia's every move with watchful eyes as Naomi's daughter climbed over the side of the cage and got in with the puppies. Her delighted giggles carried over to the two of them.

"It'll grow to be a bit big and it'll shed," the owner warned her, "but it'll be good with kids and nice and loyal, I can promise you that. Had my sister's baby over the other day and they were sweet as hell with it."

Naomi sighed and resigned herself to getting one of the fluffy ones. She supposed it was too much to ask for that they got one of the little ones that made a lot of noise but were generally easy to carry around. Literally not five minutes later Mia was approaching them. The puppy in her arms was almost as big as she was, lengthwise at least. It was a fluffy white thing with a swishy tail, big paws, and pointed floppy ears that fell over mismatched blue and brown eyes.

"It walked right up to her and sat on her feet," Emily said with a big smile.

"That's the sweetest of the lot," the owner said. "I was gonna suggest her, actually, since you've got the little ones and all."

Naomi reached over and took the puppy from Mia, holding it up so that it was level with her face. She and the dog just looked at each other for a minute, and then it licked her nose.

She sighed again.

"Okay, fine," she said. "It can come home."

The puppy barked along with the cheering as if she understood what that meant as well.

* * *

The puppy wouldn't stop whining.

Naomi groaned and rolled over, stuffing her head underneath her pillow as if that would make the shrill noise go away.

"It's lonely," Emily said groggily when Naomi groaned louder. "We took it away from its family. The books say we just have to wait it out."

"I don't want to wait it out, I want to give it back."

"We've had her three days."

"And we've had three nights of this whining."

"Well – where are you going?"

Naomi swung her legs off the side of the bed and grabbed a sweatshirt. "I'm not gonna shoot it."

"Well we don't own a gun so I'm not really worried about that."

She ignored her wife's sarcasm and trudged downstairs. The whining got louder the closer she got to the living room, which didn't seem possible. She opened the door and there was the little noisemaker herself, whining and pawing at the side of her crate. Naomi sighed and unlocked the crate, scooping the little bit of trouble up into her arms.

The whining stopped instantly.

"I said I wasn't going to do this," Naomi said to herself as she walked back upstairs, "I said I'd be strong. But nooooooo, I have to have a soft heart."

She pulled back the covers and climbed into bed, laying the dog carefully down at the foot of the covers. "I swear to you," she said, pointing at the dog who perked her ears up and tilted her head to the side, "if I wake up to soggy covers it's straight back to the crate with you."

"Wha-" Emily lifted her head and looked at where Naomi was pointing before turning to look at her wife with a knowing smile. "You're a softie," she said affectionately.

"I am not. It wouldn't stop crying and this worked with the kids so…"

"Whatever, softie."

"I'm divorcing you."

Naomi woke up the next morning with something else in her bed that wasn't there when she went to sleep. Mia was curled up at the end of the bed with the puppy lying so close to her that her nose was nuzzled against Mia's cheek. They were both lying on top of Naomi's feet, which could not possibly be comfortable for them, but they were both so soundly asleep that not even Naomi leaning up on her elbows to watch them disturbed them.

Emily pulled her back down and snuggled closer, burying her face in Naomi's hair and sighing. "Mia came in last night all frantic because she couldn't find Hedwig anywhere. I told her she could stay."

"Yeah," Naomi reached over and pulled Emily's arm tighter around her, closing her eyes and banishing the weird hospital dream she'd been having just before she'd woken up, "yeah they can both stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is rather special. Not only in that it was the last chapter I wrote for this story, but in that this was the last bit of Naomily fanfiction I wrote after Skins Fire had destroyed both my heart and my desire to write more Naomily fic.


End file.
